Abstract:
The history of malaria could be traced with the history of human civilization. In 2700 BC,
several characteristic symptoms of what would later be named malaria were described in the
Nei Ching (The Canon of Medicine, ancient Chinese medical writing). In Susruta, a Sanskrit
medical treatise written during Vedic period (1500- 800 BC), the symptoms of malarial
fever were described and attributed to the bites of certain insects. Malaria described as
autumnal fevers characterized by enlarged spleen are referred to as the „king of diseases‟.
Enlarged spleens due to malarial infection were reported in Egyptian mummies more than
3,000 years old and malaria antigen was detected in their lung and skin samples [Miller et
al., 1994].
The spread of malaria in Europe is believed to be either via the Nile valley from Africa or
more likely due to close contact with the people from Asia Minor. The description of the
rampant of disease can be found in the writings of Homer (750 B.C.), Aristophanes (445-
385 B.C.), Aristotle (384-322 B.C.), Plato (428- 347 B.C.) and Sophocles (496- 406 B.C.).
Malaria became widely recognized in Greece by the 4th century BC, and it was responsible
for the decline of many of the city-state populations. The noted physician, Hippocrates, in
his memoir „Book of Epidemics‟ described for the first time the manifestations of quartan
and tertian fevers, and noted the relationship between enlarged spleens and marshes. He also
recognized that the symptoms were more at the time of harvest which falls around late
summer and autumn (Boyd, 1949; Russell, 1955; Bruce-Chwatt, 1988). By the age of
Pericles, there were extensive references to malaria in the literature and depopulation of
rural areas was recorded. In ancient Rome, even temples were dedicated to the goddess
Febris in honor of the “Roman fever” and gave rise to the Italian word mal’aria, meaning
“bad air”, to describe the cause of disease [Bruce-Chwatt, 1988]. A number of Roman
writers attributed malarial diseases to the swamps. The disease marched relentlessly in
Europe and intensified due to slave trade in Africa and Asia. By the 1800s malaria was
brought to the New World by early voyagers on the trans-Pacific route.
