Malaria in the Mediterranean world. The historical and present-day distribution

The three Plasmodium species have existed in the mediterranean basin since the prehistoric era and the arrival of man. They were still widely prevalent until the beginning of the fifties. In Europe, since that time, most of malaria cases are either imported or post transfusional, except in Greece and especially in Turkey, where P. vivax has caused epidemics since 1973. In other parts of the mediterranean basin, P. falciparum is very rare and the predominant species are P. vivax and to a lesser extent P. malariae.