The Ministry of Health in Costa Rica signed this Monday afternoon a sanitary alert for malaria due to the increase in the number of cases reported in the country “imported” from Nicaragua, Panama, South America and Africa.

The purpose of the alert is to raise awareness among the population and educate them on the characteristics and symptoms of this disease.

Costa Rica has maintained the efforts to eradicate malaria from the country and in this way help reach the goal of the Global Fund’s Mesoamerica and Hispaniola Initiative that seeks to eradicate malaria in the region by 2020.

However, so far this year, Costa Rica has reported 21 cases of malaria, all of them imported (the patient acquired the illness in a foreign country but developed the symptoms while in Costa Rica).

In 2017 the year closed with 12 native cases and 5 imported cases.

According to information provided by the Ministry of Health, the first 11 cases were reported in the period from January through May, however, in a matter of one week 10 more cases were reported, which motivated the alert of the health authorities.

Health authorities in the country will increase the controls, surveillance and fast diagnosis in high risk areas; the majority of the cases in Costa Rica are located in the Northern zone, particularly Los Chiles, Pital and Santa Rosa de Pocosol.

Tropical countries such as Costa Rica are areas were the mosquito Anopheles albimanus finds the perfect conditions to reproduce, it lives close to rivers and lakes in areas under 600-700 meters above sea level.

Malaria is a life-threatening disease usually transmitted through the bite of an infected Anopheles mosquito which carries the Plasmodium parasite. When the parasite is already in the human body it travels to the liver where it matures and after a few days it enters the bloodstream infecting red blood cells and multiplying. Malaria symptoms include high fever, headache, nausea, chills, profuse sweating, muscular pain and sometimes vomiting.

Basic preventive measures include the use of insect repellents, mosquito nets and fumigating your home.