Historic Health Milestone: WHO Declares Egypt Malaria-free

The World Health Organisation (WHO) certified Egypt as malaria-free, an achievement which took 100 years to complete. WHO called this milestone "truly historic".

"Malaria is as old as Egyptian civilisation itself, but the disease that plagued pharaohs now belongs to its history," said WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus.

In ancient Egypt, malaria occurred in the lowlands areas. The enlarged spleen of some Egyptian mummies are also evidence of the presence of this widespread mosquito-borne disease. Pharaoh Tutankhamun, who was the king of ancient Egypt from 1333 to 1323 BCE was also afflicted by the disease. In 2010, scientists recovered traces of malaria parasites from the mummified remains of his blood. The team of scientists also found the DNA of the malaria parasite in several other mummies, some of which were the oldest to be ever isolated.

The first effort to eradicate this disease was started around 100 years ago, in the 120s, when it banned rice cultivation and agricultural crops near homes. Finally, the certification is granted for Egypt as a malaria-free nation based on its proof that the transmission chain is interrupted for at last the previous three consecutive years.

Annually, in Africa, at least 6,00,00 people are killed because of this disease. With the eradication of this disease, Egypt has now become the third country in the Eastern Mediterranean Region, following the United Arab Emirates and Morocco to be malaria-free. Globally, 44 countries and one territory have received this certification.

It is caused by a parasite that spreads to humans through the bites of infected mosquitoes. As per WHO, when an infected female Anopheles mosquito bites a human, the human shows symptoms of malaria. Once the parasites enter your body, they travel to the liver and mature. After a few days, the parasites enter the bloodstream and start to infect the red blood cells. Within 48 to 72 hours, parasites multiply and cause the infected cells to burst open.

There is yet no vaccination available to treat malaria, however taking precautions like sleeping under a mosquito net, using mosquito repellent, covering your skin or using bug sprays can help.