Malaria is caused by being bitten by an infected mosquito. It can take just 1 bite to get it.

The infection is very common in certain parts of the world.

It's found in tropical regions, including:

• large areas of Africa and Asia
• Central and South America
• Dominican Republic and Haiti
• parts of the Middle East
• some Pacific islands

Malaria is not found in the UK.

You cannot usually catch malaria from another person. But rarely, it can be passed on by:

• a mother malaria passing it to their unborn baby during pregnancy
• a needlestick injury, where a used needle accidentally punctures someone's skin

Check before you travel

It's important to check the malaria risk for the country you're travelling to before you go.

You're still at risk of getting malaria if you now live in the UK but were born or used to live in a high-risk country. You will not be immune to malaria anymore.

Find out more about the risk of malaria in specific countries on the Travel Health Pro website

If you're travelling to an area where malaria is found, get advice from a GP, nurse, pharmacist or travel clinic before you go.

It's best to do this at least 4 to 6 weeks before you travel, but you can still get advice at the last minute if you need to.

You may be prescribed antimalarial tablets to reduce the risk of getting malaria and told how you can prevent mosquito bites.

Who's most at risk

It's especially important to get advice before you travel if you're at higher risk of getting seriously ill from malaria.

This includes:

• if you're pregnant
• young children
• people aged over 65
• if you have a weak immune system
• if you do not have a spleen

You may be advised to avoid travelling to areas where there's a high risk of malaria or you may be prescribed antimalarial medicine before travelling to a low-risk area.

Malaria can be hard to spot, but symptoms include:

• a high temperature, sweats and chills
• headaches and feeling confused
• feeling very tired and sleepy (especially in children)
• feeling and being sick, tummy pain and diarrhoea
• loss of appetite
• muscle pains
• yellow whites of the eyes or skin (jaundice), although this may be less noticeable on brown or black skin
• a sore throat, cough and difficulty breathing

These symptoms usually appear between 7 and 18 days after you've been bitten by an infected mosquito.

But sometimes you may not have symptoms for months after travel, and rarely years.

Ask for an urgent GP appointment or get help from NHS 111 if:

Malaria is an emergency and needs to be treated quickly.

It's treated with antimalarial medicines.

Some people may need to stay in hospital to have specialist care and treatment.

Malaria can sometimes come back and will need to be treated again if this happens.