Malaria
Annual Summary of Reportable Diseases

Malaria is a febrile illness caused by several protozoan species in the genus Plasmodium. The parasite is transmitted to humans by bites from infected Anopheles genus mosquitoes. The risk of malaria is highest in the tropical and sub-tropical regions of the world. Although local transmission of malaria frequently occurred in Minnesota over 100 years ago, all cases reported in Minnesota residents in recent years have been imported infections acquired abroad. 

In 2022, 72 cases (1.2 per 100,000 population) were reported. Sixty-seven (93%) cases were identified with P. falciparum, two (3%) with P. vivax, and two (3%) with P. malariae. In one case (1%), the testing performed was unable to identify a species. The median age of cases was 39 years (range, 2 to 78). Of the 68 cases with known race, 62 (91%) were Black, 5 (7%) were white, and one (1%) identified as other race. All 72 cases were Minnesota residents at the time of their illness, 62 (86%) of whom resided in the seven-county metropolitan area. Of the 51 cases with known country of birth, 10 (20%) were born in the United States. Exposure and travel information was available for all cases, and while 70 (97%) cases likely acquired malaria in Africa, one patient reported travel to Asia, and one patient reported travel to Central and South America. Twenty countries were considered possible exposure locations in Africa for malaria infections, including Liberia (17), Cameroon (9), Guinea (8), Ghana (6), Sierra Leone (6), Togo (6), Uganda (6), and Ethiopia (5), as well as several other countries in sub-Saharan Africa.

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Malaria is a febrile illness caused by several protozoan species in the genus Plasmodium. The parasite is transmitted to humans by bites from infected Anopheles genus mosquitoes. The risk of malaria is highest in the tropical and sub-tropical regions of the world. Although local transmission of malaria frequently occurred in Minnesota over 100 years ago, all cases reported in Minnesota residents in recent years have been imported infections acquired abroad. 

In 2021, 64 cases (1.1 per 100,000 population) were reported. Fifty-six (88%) cases were identified with P. falciparum, 2 (3%) with P. vivax, 2 (3%) with P. ovale, 1 (2%) with P. malariae and 1 (2%) with mixed Plasmodium species infection. In 2 cases (3%), the testing performed was unable to identify a species. The median age of cases was 40 years (range, 3 to 81). Of the 53 cases with known race, 48 (91%) were Black, 3 (5%) were white, 1 (2%) was Asian, and 1 (2%) identified as other race. Sixty-three cases were Minnesota residents at the time of their illness, 48 (75%) of whom resided in the seven-county metropolitan area. Of the 36 cases with known country of birth, 4 (6%) were born in the United States. Exposure and travel information was not available for 3 cases, while 60 (94%) cases likely acquired malaria in Africa, and 1 patient reported travel to Asia. Sixteen countries were considered possible exposure locations in Africa for malaria infections, including Liberia (17), Nigeria (8), Cameroon (6), Kenya (5), and Togo (5), as well as several other countries in sub-Saharan Africa. The case reporting Asian travel had visited Thailand.

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2020 data is not available.

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Malaria is a febrile illness caused by several protozoan species in the genus Plasmodium. The parasite is transmitted to humans by bites from infected Anopheles genus mosquitoes. The risk of malaria is highest in the tropical and sub-tropical regions of the world. Although local transmission of malaria frequently occurred in Minnesota over 100 years ago, all of the cases reported in Minnesota residents in recent years have been imported infections acquired abroad.

In 2019, 77 cases (1.4 per 100,000 population) were reported. Sixty-four (83%) cases were identified with P. falciparum, 5 (7%) with P. vivax, 3 (4%) with P. ovale, 3 (4%) with P. malariae and 1 (1%) with mixed Plasmodium species infection. In 1 case, the species was unable to be determined. The median age of cases was 37 years (range, 4 to 75). Of the 68 cases with known race, 68 (81%) were black, 3 (4%) were white and 3 (4%) were Asian. Seventy-five cases were Minnesota residents at the time of their illness, 56 (75%) of which resided in the metropolitan area. Of the 59 cases with known country of birth, 6 (8%) were born in the United States. 74 (96%) cases likely acquired malaria in Africa, and 1 patient reported travel to Central America. Exposure information was not available for 2 cases. Seventeen countries were considered possible exposure locations for malaria infections, including Liberia (19), Nigeria (13), Kenya (9), Sierra Leone (7), and Cameroon (5) as well as several other countries in sub-Saharan Africa.

• Find up to date information at: Malaria

Malaria is caused by several protozoan species in the genus Plasmodium. The parasite is transmitted to humans by bites from infected Anopheles genus mosquitoes. The risk of malaria is highest in the tropical and sub-tropical regions of the world. Although local transmission of malaria frequently occurred in Minnesota over 100 years ago, all of the cases reported in Minnesota residents in recent years have been imported infections acquired abroad.

In 2018, 59 cases (1 per 100,000 population) were reported. Fifty (85%) cases were identified with P. falciparum, 3 (5%) with P. vivax, 2 (3%) with P. ovale, 1 (2%) with mixed Plasmodium species, and in 1 the species was unable to be determined. The median age of cases was 37 years (range, 2 to 72). Of the 55 cases with known race, 45 (82%) were black, 7 (13%) were white, 1 (2%) was Asian/ Pacific Islander, and 1 (2%) identified as their race as "Other." Fifty-five cases were Minnesota residents at the time of their illness, 49 (89%) of which resided in the metropolitan area. Of the 50 cases with known country of birth, only 15 (30%) were born in the United States. Fifty-six (95%) cases likely acquired malaria in Africa, 2 (3%) cases were likely acquired in Asia, and 1 patient reported travel to Central America. Exposure information was not available for 1 case. Eighteen countries were considered possible exposure locations for malaria infections, including Liberia (20), Nigeria (8), Kenya (6), Sierra Leone (6), and Ghana (5) as well as several other countries in sub-Saharan Africa.

• For up to date information see: Malaria

• Archive of Annual Summary of Communicable Diseases Reported to the Minnesota Department of Health
  Archive of past summaries (years prior to 2023 are available as PDFs).