Uncommon malaria spreading in Malaysia

Parasite’s jump from monkeys to people seems aided by deforestation

deforestation

BAD HABITAT  A kind of malaria common in monkeys is increasingly infecting people in the Malaysian state of Sarawak, possibly due to deforestation (shown here) that puts the animals into closer contact with humans.

Wakx/Flickr (CC BY-NC-SA 2.0) 

NEW ORLEANS — A form of malaria found in wild monkeys has begun to infect people so often in parts of Southeast Asia that it has become the leading cause of malaria in Malaysia.