Malaria:
- 2. What is/ are the etiology (-ies) of Malaria?
Malaria is caused by a bite from a female Anopheles mosquito infected with plasmodium spp. There are 172 species that can infect birds, reptiles, and humans. Only five species of Plasmodium parasites can cause disease in humans. These are Plasmodium falciparum, Plasmodium vivax, Plasmodium ovale, Plasmodium malriae, and Plasmodium knowleski (uncommon).

- How is the disease transmitted and what are the major clinical signs?
Usually, people get malaria by being bitten by an infected female Anopheles mosquito. Only Anopheles mosquitoes can transmit malaria and they must have been infected through a previous blood meal taken from an infected person. When a mosquito bites an infected person, a small amount of blood is taken in which contains microscopic malaria parasites. About one week later, when the mosquito takes its next blood meal, 20-200 sporozoites mix with the mosquito’s saliva and are injected into the bloodstream of the person being bitten. Because the malaria parasite is found in red blood cells of an infected person, malaria can also be transmitted through blood transfusion, organ transplant, and the sharing of needles, but this is very rare.

Major clinical signs or symptoms of malaria include fever and flu-like illness, including shaking chills, headache, muscle aches, and tiredness. Nausea, vomiting, and diarrhea may also occur. Malaria may cause anemia and jaundice because of the loss of red blood cells. If not promptly treated, the infected can become severe and may cause kidney failure, seizure, mental confusion, coma, and death. - 3. Discuss how Panama has been successful in controlling a malaria outbreak.

Panama has been successful in controlling a malaria outbreak. In 1969, when a P. falciparum outbreak occurred resulting in 6,000 cases of malaria, they intensified the use of