Malaria - Kyrgyzstan (03)

International Society for Infectious Diseases
<http://www.isid.org>

Source: State Sanitary Surveillance Webpage of the Kyrgyzstan
Ministry of Health, accessed 1 Sep 2006 [trans. from Russian by Mod.NR, edited]
<http://www.gsen.in.kg/ru/?news=10>

So far [in 2006], 209 cases of malaria have been registered in the
country; 161 of the total are registered in Bishkek city [the
capital], 21 in Batken, 22 in Jalalabad, 3 in Issik-Kul, one case
each in Osh and Narin.

In general, 3-day malaria [_Plasmodium vivax_] is prevalent in
Kyrgyzstan; it spread after the collapse the of former USSR, which
led to a failure of proper prevention measures against the Anopheles
mosquito, badly maintained irrigation systems in rice fields, and an
increase in migration of populations (seasonal workers, students,
refugees, etc.). Besides that, there are imported cases of tropical
malaria from other regions of Central Asia, especially from
Tajikistan. About 90 000 people migrated to Tajikistan after the
collapse of the USSR from Afghanistan, which is considered an endemic
zone for malaria.

The reported cases have almost tripled since our report from the 24
June 2006, where 79 cases were reported for the entire country.
Please refer to the comment on malaria in Kyrgyzstan in the ProMED
post from 24 June 2006 below.