Open Access

Malaria …, 2012

Background In recent years, the increase in globalization [1], the rise in the average temperature of the earth together with an increasing frequency and intensity of extreme weather events, as storms, floods and droughts [2, 3], and the environmental changes ...

Pathogens, 2021

Malaria still represents a potential public health issue in Italy, and the presence of former Anopheles vectors and cases imported annually merit continuous surveillance. In areas no longer endemic, the concurrent presence of gametocyte carriers and competent vectors makes re-emergence of local transmission possible, as recently reported in Greece. In October 2017, due to the occurrence of four suspected introduced malaria cases in the province of Taranto (Apulia region), entomological investigations were performed to verify the involvement of local anopheline species. In 2019–2020 entomological surveys were extended to other areas historically prone to malaria between the provinces of Taranto and Matera and the province of Foggia (Gargano Promontory). Resting mosquitoes were collected in animal shelters and human dwellings, larvae were sampled in natural and artificial breeding sites, and specimens were both morphologically and molecularly identified. A total of 2228 mosquitoes wer...

Malaria Journal, 2010

Background: International travel and immigration have been related with an increase of imported malaria cases. This fact and climate change, prolonging the period favouring vector development, require an analysis of the malaria transmission resurgence risk in areas of southern Europe. Such a study is made for the first time in Spain. The Ebro Delta historically endemic area was selected due to its rice field landscape, the presence of only one vector, Anopheles atroparvus, with densities similar to those it presented when malaria was present, in a situation which pronouncedly differs from already assessed potential resurgence areas in other Mediterranean countries, such as France and Italy, where many different Anopheles species coexist and a different vector species dominates.

BMC Public Health, 2020

Background The European region achieved interruption of malaria transmission during the 1970s. Since then, malaria control programs were replaced by surveillance systems in order to prevent possible re-emergence of this disease. Sporadic cases of non-imported malaria were recorded in several European countries in the past decade and locally transmitted outbreaks of Plasmodium vivax, most probably supported by Anopheles sacharovi, have been repeatedly reported from Greece since 2009. The possibility of locally-transmitted malaria has been extensively studied in Italy where the former malaria vector An. labranchiae survived the control campaign which led to malaria elimination. In this study, we present paradigmatic cases that occurred during a 2017 unusual cluster, which caused strong concern in public opinion and were carefully investigated after the implementation of the updated malaria surveillance system. Methods For suspected locally-transmitted malaria cases, alerts to Ministry...

Journal of Travel Medicine, 1994

Background: Malaria infections have become an increasing public health problem in Europe, especially those imported into nonendemic areas. The transmission and diffusion of malaria has increased, especially over the last decade, due to changes in agricultural practices, vector resistance to insecticides, and most relevantly, increasing international travel and the resistance of these parasites to chemophrophylaxis. This study investigates the epidemiologic factors of imported malaria in an area of Italy, as related to international travel and prophylaxis by Italian immigrants who have revisited their country of origin.

1999

European Journal of Epidemiology, 1994

Based on the official reports received from local health laboratories, an epidemiological analysis of malaria cases reported in Italy from 1989 to 1992 is presented. A total of 1,941 cases were reported, 1,287 among Italians and 654 among foreigners. The incidence of cases was on average 500 per year with a maximum in 1990. A slight, but constant decrease of incidence of malaria cases was recorded in this period among Italian citizens (-21.5%), while the incidence among foreigners increased (+80%). Plasmodium falciparum accounted for 74.2% of total Key words: Epidemiology, Italy, Malaria infections, followed by P. vivax (19%). The highest number of cases was imported from Africa (86.5%), followed by Asia, South America, and Oceania. 11 cases were contracted in Europe (transfusion, airport and cryptic malaria). 26 people died from malaria during the four years, with a fatality rate of 2.3% among Italians. Other epidemiological features concerning incidence in the different categories of travellers, countries of infection, clinical and therapeutic aspects of cases, are also discussed.

Malaria Journal, 2008

Background The Camargue region is a former malaria endemic area, where potential Anopheles vectors are still abundant. Considering the importation of Plasmodium due to the high number of imported malaria cases in France, the aim of this article was to make some predictions regarding the risk of malaria re-emergence in the Camargue. Methods Receptivity (vectorial capacity) and infectivity (vector susceptibility) were inferred using an innovative probabilistic approach and considering both Plasmodium falciparum and Plasmodium vivax. Each parameter of receptivity (human biting rate, anthropophily, length of trophogonic cycle, survival rate, length of sporogonic cycle) and infectivity were estimated based on field survey, bibliographic data and expert knowledge and fitted with probability distributions taking into account the variability and the uncertainty of the estimation. Spatial and temporal variations of the parameters were determined using environmental factors derived from satel...

Journal of travel medicine, 2001

PlosOne, 2016

Malaria is currently one of the world´s major health problems. About a half-million deaths are recorded every year. In Portugal, malaria cases were significantly high until the end of the 1950s but the disease was considered eliminated in 1973. In the past few years, endemic malaria cases have been recorded in some European countries. With the increasing human mobility from countries with endemic malaria to Portugal, there is concern about the resurgence of this disease in the country. Here, we model and map the risk of malaria transmission for mainland Portugal, considering 3 different scenarios of existing imported infections. This risk assessment resulted from entomological studies on An. atroparvus, the only known mosquito capable of transmitting malaria in the study area. We used the malariogenic potential (deter-mined by receptivity, infectivity and vulnerability) applied over geospatial data sets to estimate spatial variation in malaria risk. The results suggest that the risk exists, and the hotspots are concentrated in the northeast region of the country and in the upper and lower Alentejo regions.