According to the CDC, United states was once a malaria-endemic country until 1951 when malaria was eliminated in the country. Currently, approximately 1,500 cases of malaria and five deaths are reported annually in the US mostly by returning travelers (Ramasamy, 2014). Globally, malaria is widespread in over 100 countries mostly the less developed tropical areas of Asia, Latin America, and Asia. It is estimated that malaria kills about 1 million people annually in Africa alone. There are about 300 to 500 million cases of malaria reported annually and approximately 90 percent of these cases occur in sub-Saharan Africa. Although malaria is treatable and preventable, it still causes significant mortality and morbidity with the highest number of cases being reported in resource poor-regions and amongst young children. The contributing factors for malaria are mostly dictated by social and economic reasons. In most instances of malaria infection, the people infected are mainly poor rural populations who live in malaria endemic regions since they cannot afford proper housing and bed nets that can protect them from exposure. The lack of education is also a contributing factor when it comes to the spread of malaria. People lack the knowledge to recognize and treat malaria correctly. Cultural beliefs have also played a key role as people will use traditional ineffective methods for treating the disease. Human activities that create breeding grounds for the larvae are also contributors to the spread of malaria. War, voluntary and forced migrations have also...

Individuals who live in areas that are prone to malaria should protect themselves by wearing protective clothing, using insect repellants, and sleeping under treated nets. The World Health Organization (WHO) field trials have indicated that insecticide treated curtains and bed nets have a high potential for reducing childhood mortality from 15 percent to 35 percent. However, despite this proven efficacy, there are fewer than 2 percent of African children who sleep under treated bed nets. Individuals are also encouraged to ensure that there is no stagnant water close to their homesteads in order to eliminate the breeding grounds for mosquitoes.
The incubation period for malaria is between 7 to 18 days from the day of infection and this is depending on the parasite that infected an individual. However, there have been cases of individuals taking almost a year before they develop any symptoms (Pimenta et al., 2015). The initial malaria symptoms are flu-like and they include high temperature, sweats, headache, vomiting, and chills. The malaria symptoms are normally mild and it is not easy to identify them as malaria. There are some types of malaria that cause fever in 48-hour cycles. Other malaria symptoms are diarrhea, muscle pains, and generally feeling unwell.

Laboratory test must be carried out in order to get a definitive diagnosis for malaria. Clinical diagnosis can…