DECRYPTION – A new study traces the history of the evolution and global spread of malaria over the past 5,500 years.
Malaria, which still kills 600,000 people each year, is one of the deadliest infections in the world but also one of the oldest. In an article published Wednesday in the journal Nature, an international team of researchers traces the history of the spread of this disease in humans over the last 5,500 years. A spread intrinsically linked to human mobility, whether the growth of trade, war or slavery.
This infection has been mentioned in writings for a long time, due to a parasite transmitted to humans by certain mosquitoes. The first texts describing the symptoms of malaria, such as cyclical fevers, “ appear as early as ancient Greece, around 400 BCE and in Rome, as well as in South Asia around 3000 years », explains Megan Michel, lead author of the study and researcher at the Max Planck-Harvard Research Center on the Archeology of the Ancient Mediterranean. However, the disease is much more…
This article is reserved for subscribers. You have 84% left to discover.
Flash sale
1€ per month for 3 months. Without engagement.
Already subscribed? Log in
