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Anopheles Mosquito
Photograph by Hugh Sturrock
Her abdomen full of blood that will nourish her eggs, a female Anopheles mosquito takes to the air. Her next landing may be a dangerous one—for the human who receives her bite. The female Anopheles mosquito is the only insect capable of carrying the human malaria parasite.
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Malaria Parasites Amid Red Blood Cells
Photograph by Albert Bonniers Forlag
The invasion has begun. Microscopic magnification shows Plasmodium falciparum—the most virulent of the four malaria parasites that infect humans—destroying red blood cells in the liver. It digests a cell's hemoglobin, multiplies inside to the point of rupturing the cell, and rapidly spreads a new generation of infection.
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Wooden Huts on River
Photograph by Nic Cleave Photography/Alamy
Washed garments hung to dry add splashes of color to weatherworn huts lining a river in Siem Reap, Cambodia. Poverty and weather conditions compound the problem of malaria. Outside of Africa, the majority of recorded cases of malaria are concentrated here and in eight other countries in Asia and South America.
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Mosquito Nets in Dormitory
Photograph by John Stanmeyer
Veiled in old bed nets, dormitory residents at the Kafue Boys Secondary School in Kafue, Zambia, get a small measure of protection each night. But the mosquito barriers are only as good as the fabric from which they're made. Holes in the nets, untreated material, or an exposed hand or foot during sleep increase the odds that the malaria-carrying insects will bite.
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Testing Blood
Photograph by John Stanmeyer
A sample of blood seems to captivate young locals at a malaria testing center in Iquitos, Peru. The first widely known remedy—from the bark of the cinchona tree—was discovered in the region in the early 1600s. The medicine, which became known as quinine, was so promising that malaria-ravaged Europe mounted expeditions to acquire the plant. Today, scientists search for more ways to fight the disease—including the development of a vaccine—as the parasite becomes resistant to the most common course of drugs.
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Malaria Victim
Photograph by Michael Nichols
Caught in a wrenching cycle of shivering cold, high fevers, and profuse sweats, ecologist Michael Fay struggles through yet another attack of malaria at the Bomassa camp in Congo. Taking regular doses of antimalarial drugs can have long-term side effects, such as hearing loss and liver and kidney damage. So Fay, who has worked in Africa for decades, tends to wait until he feels achy and queasy before medicating himself. It's a risky approach that has twice come close to killing him.
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Mother and Child, Niger
Photograph by Karen Kasmauski
Contained panic shrouds the face of a mother whose child is suffering from malaria in Niger. Younger children are at higher risk of dying; their bodies have not developed enough immunity to fight the disease, which can infect their brains and kill them. Each day malaria claims the lives of about 3,000 children in Africa—one every 30 seconds. Researchers predict that in 2007, malaria will strike up to a half billion people worldwide. About a million—most under five years old and living in Africa—will die.
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Mosquito Lab
Photograph by Ira Block
Separating Anopheles mosquito larvae from pupae using a cold-water solution, a worker (foreground) at the Project of the Sterile Males in Nueva San Salvador, El Salvador, carries out his daily duties. The project, a collaborative effort of the U.S. Department of Agriculture, the U.S. Public Health Service, and the government of El Salvador, works to control malaria by reducing the mosquito population through sterilization. Each of the more than 3,000 trays holds 7,000 larvae. Separated larvae are left to continue their development while pupae are further divided by gender. Males are then removed for sterilization.
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Man Spraying Pesticide
Photograph by John Stanmeyer
Spraying pesticide to kill mosquito larvae is as common as doing the daily laundry in Kolkata (Calcutta), India. In the ongoing battle against malaria outbreaks, inspectors check that people without faucets store water in closed containers, but monsoon rains that flood some sections of the city are harder to control. Standing water creates the perfect environment for mosquito larvae to breed.
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Malaria Remedy
Photograph by George Steinmetz
The bark of an Enantia chlorantha tree growing in a Cameroonian rain forest yields easily as a man peels away strips. An extract from the bark is used as a traditional remedy for the raging fevers that accompany bouts of malaria.
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Malaria Street Performers
Photograph by John Stanmeyer
The harsh reality of malaria surrounds a troupe of street performers in Tanzania, who convey the educational message to use insecticidal bed nets all year. Despite the higher risk of death among young children, only 2 percent of those in Africa actually use bed nets. Some families are deterred by the cost—a few dollars, but very expensive for many poor people. Others stop using the bed nets when the rainy season ends.
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