What to know
- Approximately 2,000 malaria cases a year are reported in the United States, and on average there were nearly 7 deaths per year for the period 2007 – 2022.
- 95% of people with malaria did not take appropriate malaria prevention medication.
- Most cases are P. falciparum, the more severe form of disease.
- Most case-patients reported recently returning from Africa.
- Among U.S. civilians, malaria case-patients reported visiting friends and relatives as the primary reason for travel, followed by business travel.
Overview
National data on malaria in the United States provides information on trends over time regarding who gets malaria and where they were infected1. Public health workers review case information to identify if people got malaria during international travel, or not. Public health officials conduct control measures when people are infected in the United States to prevent further spread.
Results
Downloadable data files
Methods
Cases of confirmed or suspected malaria in the United States are 2 by the Council of State and Territorial Epidemiologists (CSTE) and CDC. As a condition in the National Notifiable Diseases Surveillance System (NNDSS)3, positive malaria laboratory test results are reported from hospital, commercial, public health, and other laboratories to state and local health departments, often through the electronic laboratory reporting system4. The laboratory reports prompt case investigations by state and local health departments. In collaboration with NNDSS, the CDC implements the National Malaria Surveillance System (NMSS). Malaria Surveillance and Case Investigation Best Practices, including resources on the malaria case definitions are available at the CDC website5. The CDC malaria case report form is available online6. Sometimes reference lab confirmatory testing is recommended, especially for cases with no international travel, and to distinguish malaria from babesiosis, a tick-borne parasite found in parts of the United States, which also infects red blood cells and can be mistaken for malaria.
NNDSS and NMSS rely on passive case reporting from jurisdictions, and the number of cases might differ, especially because of differences in date classifications. NNDSS case dates can be assigned according to the date of illness onset, diagnosis, or the date reported to the health department, and NMSS assigns dates according to illness onset. NNDSS reports weekly7 and annual counts of cases over time, by condition and public health jurisdiction. NMSS includes the NNDSS case count information and captures more information from case investigations and includes data on travel exposures, risk factors, treatments and outcomes.
The data presented here summarizes analysis from the integration of all NMSS and NNDSS cases after deduplication and reconciliation. This activity was reviewed by CDC and was conducted consistent with applicable federal law and CDC policyA.
- 45 C.F.R. part 46.102(l)(2), 21 C.F.R. part 56; 42 U.S.C. §241(d); 5 U.S.C. §552a; 44 U.S.C. §3501 et seq.
- Mace, K.E., N.W. Lucchi, and K.R. Tan, Malaria Surveillance - United States, 2018. MMWR Surveill Summ, 2022. 71(8): p. 1-35.
- Council for State and Territorial Epidemiologists. Public Health Reporting and National Notification for Malaria. 2014; Available from: .
- United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. About National Notifiable Diseases Surveillance System. 2024 November 20, 2024; Available from: /nndss/about/index.html.
- United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Electronic Laboratory Reporting (ELR). 2024 April 11, 2024; Available from: /electronic-lab-reporting/php/about/index.html.
- United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Malaria Surveillance & Case Investigation Best Practices. 2024 June 4, 2024; Available from: /malaria/php/surveillance/index.html.
- United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. How to Report a Case of Malaria. 2024 June 5, 2024; Available from: /malaria/php/case-reporting/index.html.
- United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Notifiable Infectious Disease Data Tables. 2025 February 4, 2025; Available from: /nndss/infectious-disease/.
- Courtney, A.P., et al., Locally Acquired (Autochthonous) Mosquito-Transmitted Plasmodium vivax Malaria - Saline County, Arkansas, September 2023. MMWR Morb Mortal Wkly Rep, 2024. 73(42): p. 646-649.
- Duwell, M., et al., Notes from the Field: Locally Acquired Mosquito-Transmitted (Autochthonous) Plasmodium falciparum Malaria - National Capital Region, Maryland, August 2023. MMWR Morb Mortal Wkly Rep, 2023. 72(41): p. 1123-1125.
- Blackburn, D., et al., Outbreak of Locally Acquired Mosquito-Transmitted (Autochthonous) Malaria - Florida and Texas, May-July 2023. MMWR Morb Mortal Wkly Rep, 2023. 72(36): p. 973-978.
- United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. General Approach to Treatment. 2024 March 26, 2024; Available from: /malaria/hcp/clinical-guidance/general-treatment.html.
- United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Clinical Guidance: Malaria Diagnosis & Treatment in the U.S. 2024 June 5, 2024; Available from: /malaria/hcp/clinical-guidance/index.html.
- Tan, K., Abanyie, F. CDC Yellow Book 2024. Travel-Associated Infections & Diseases. Malaria. 2024 January 31, 2025 [cited 2025; Available from: .
- United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Malaria 101 for the Healthcare Provider. 2022 May 11, 2022; Available from: /parasites/cme/malaria_101/index.html.
- United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Malaria — United States, 1980. Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report, 1980. 29(August 29, 1980): p. 413-415.
- United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. National Notifiable Diseases Surveillance System (NNDSS). About Annual Tables. 2024 November 20, 2024; Available from: /nndss/notifiable-infectious-disease-tables/about-tables.html.