Why should this be a cause for concern? Malaria – caused by the Plasmodium parasite – can be a serious and life-threatening disease. There are 240 million cases worldwide each year, with more than 600,000 deaths reported. Infected individuals may develop fever, headache, body aches, and vomiting/diarrhea. Due to the lack of endemic malaria transmission in the US, there has been no existing population-level immunity for several decades. This can facilitate future outbreaks and potentially increase their occurrence. (Matthew Binnicker, Forbes)