I don't "pathogens evolve" and malaria is a viable reasoning here at all. There's a practically endless list of better hypotheses than Plasmodium suddenly compl

I don't "pathogens evolve" and malaria is a viable reasoning here at all. There's a practically endless list of better hypotheses than Plasmodium suddenly completely breaking it's normal patterns. For what it's worth though, vector-borne diseases in general (such as one spread by insects) are also largely exempt from the (erratic) tendency for the pathogen to evolve some moderation, as the host doesn't need to move itself and only needs to be fresh enough to attract attention from the vector species.