Progress, puzzles in halting malaria
The prevalence of malaria in the population on the Tanzanian island of Zanzibar has fallen to just 2 percent from 70 percent over the last century. Much of the progress came in just the last 10 years, leading to a new challenge: how to sustain eradication efforts now that the disease has become relatively rare. Jessica Cohen, assistant professor of global health at the Harvard School of Public Health (HSPH), was part of a team brought to Zanzibar to help the government determine a path to control malaria in the future, either by maintaining the present low level or by pushing forward with eradication efforts. The nature of malaria makes eradication extremely difficult, Cohen said. The disease can lie dormant in the liver for years, breaking out after control efforts have eased. The ability of the mosquitoes that carry the parasite to bite a number of people means that one case can...