Malaria

At a glance

No vaccine available – read more about prevention
Nationally notifiable disease

About malaria

Malaria is caused by a parasite. The parasite spreads to people through bites from infected mosquitoes.

Infection can cause mild to severe disease. Most people recover from malaria if it is diagnosed and treated quickly.

There are 5 species of Plasmodium parasites that cause malaria. Infection with one particular species, Plasmodium falciparum, is more likely to cause severe illness or death unless treated quickly.

Why it matters to public health

Malaria is a major global health concern. Millions of people are diagnosed with malaria around the world each year.

Malaria is common in tropical and subtropical continents such as Africa, Asia, the Americas, and the Western Pacific region. It is a leading cause of death and disease in many developing countries, with most deaths in children aged under 5 years.

The World Health Organization officially declared Australia malaria-free in 1981. But, each year, Australia records cases of malaria in people who have travelled overseas.

The parasites that cause malaria are becoming resistant to treatment. Antimicrobial resistance is a global public health priority.

Although malaria does not usually occur in Australia, outbreaks have occurred in Queensland, including in the Torres Strait.

The mosquito species that spreads the parasite can be found in the northern parts of Western Australia, Northern Territory and Queensland.

Due to the risk of outbreaks, public health authorities in these areas carefully manage cases of malaria.

Symptoms

If you’re looking for advice about your own health or treatment options, see healthdirect or speak with a qualified healthcare professional. Our role is to provide public health advice – information and guidance that helps prevent disease, protect communities and improve wellbeing at a population level.

Symptoms can include:

fever – that can come and go, depending on the parasite species
headache
chills
sweating
nausea
vomiting.

Symptoms can be mild for people who have had malaria before. For others, symptoms can be severe and life threatening.

Severe symptoms can include:

extreme fatigue
seizures
difficulty breathing
kidney failure
jaundice (yellowing of the eyes and skin)
severe anaemia in children.

Malaria can be more severe for pregnant people. It can lead to:

Read more about the symptoms, diagnosis and treatment of malaria.

healthdirect’s symptom checker can help you decide whether to see a health professional.

Check your symptoms

Onset of symptoms

Symptoms usually start between 7 and 15 days after a bite from an infected mosquito. In some people, symptoms might start weeks or months after being infected.

Some parasite species that cause malaria can stay in the body. These can cause malaria symptoms months or years after initial infection.

How it spreads

Mosquitoes become infected with the malaria parasite when they bite a person who has the parasite in their blood. The mosquitoes then pass on the parasite when they bite another person.

In rare cases, malaria can spread:

from a pregnant person to their unborn baby
through contaminated needles and syringes
through an unsafe blood transfusion or organ transplant– blood and organ donation is strictly regulated and safe in Australia. Read more about pre-donation screening for malaria.

Infectious period

Malaria does not spread directly between people.

Prevention

There is no vaccine against malaria available in Australia.

People travelling to areas where malaria is common should speak to their healthcare professional about their individual risk of malaria. Depending on risk, travellers may be prescribed anti-malarial medicine.

The best ways to protect against malaria are to:

take anti-malarial medicine, if recommended
prevent mosquito bites.

People with malaria need to take extra care to prevent mosquito bites while they have a fever. This is because they could pass the parasite to mosquitoes, which can then spread to other people.

Priority groups and settings

Some people are at greater risk of getting malaria or getting very sick from it.

If you are at greater risk, it is especially important to take steps to protect yourself.

People at greater risk of severe disease

Malaria poses a greater risk of severe illness for:

children aged under 5 years
pregnant people
people living with HIV
travellers from locations with little or no malaria who aren’t immune.

People at greater risk of exposure

People who travel to areas where malaria is found are at greater risk of being infected. This includes people visiting friends and relatives overseas.

Diagnosis and treatment

Health professional can diagnose malaria through a blood test.

If you develop a high fever or chills when travelling to an area where malaria is found, speak to your healthcare professional as soon as possible. It is important to tell them about your travel history.

You can use healthdirect’s directory to find a health service near you.

Find a health service

Malaria is treated with anti-malarial medicine. People who are very unwell might need hospital treatment.

Read more about how to manage or treat malaria.

Surveillance and reporting

Malaria is a nationally notifiable disease – these are diseases that present a risk to public health.

Health authorities in each state and territory report new laboratory confirmed cases to us through the National Notifiable Diseases Surveillance System.

This is part of national surveillance activities to monitor case numbers around the country and understand disease patterns.

Public health authorities take a One Health approach to surveillance of malaria. In addition to human disease surveillance, relevant government departments help monitor the malaria parasite in mosquitoes.

We analyse the data and publish case numbers and other data through our data visualisation tool, where you can filter and search the latest information.

Outbreaks

Any malaria infection acquired in Australia is considered an outbreak.

Control measures in an outbreak might include:

mosquito control activities
educating people about the disease
mosquito bite prevention education and promotion.

Support

For information about malaria in your state or territory, see:

For travel advice, see Smartraveller.