US Malaria Cases Reach 40-Year High

Nearly 2,000 a year

The number of malaria cases in the United States is the highest in more than 40 years, according to a new report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

In 2011, there were 1,925 reported malaria cases in the country, the highest since 1971, and a 14 percent increase from 2010, the CDC said.

Almost all U.S. residents who got malaria acquired the disease while traveling in another country. Nearly 70 percent of U.S. malaria cases in 2011 were acquired in Africa, the CDC said. India had the most imported cases of any single country, with 223, followed by Nigeria, which had 213