Abstract:
Malaria is a febrile infectious disease caused by the Plasmodium parasite and transmitted by female
Anopheles mosquitoes. Plasmodium falciparum, Plasmodium vivax, Plasmodium malariae, and
Plasmodium ovale are the major species to cause human malaria. Plasmodium falciparum (P.
falciparum) and Plasmodium vivax (P. vivax) are the most virulent and the most widespread species,
respectively. Plasmodium knowlesi, which primarily infects non-human primates, has recently been
reported to cause human malaria in forested areas of the Pacific and Southeast Asia. The Plasmodium
life cycle follows both sexual and asexual reproduction involving sporogony in the mosquito and
schizogony in the vertebrate host (1). Anopheles arabiensis, Anopheles funestus, and Anopheles
gambiae are the major species of Anopheles mosquito involved in the transmission of malaria,
particularly in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA), where the largest burden with P. falciparum predominance
is found (2,3). In 2023, there were an estimated 263 million cases and 597 thousand deaths of malaria
in the world, from which 94% and 95%, respectively, occurred in Africa. Ethiopia was the 4th country
with the largest estimated number (9.56 million) of malaria cases (after Nigeria, Democratic Republic
of the Congo, and Uganda), in the world in 2023
