Malaria in the Caribbean

Malaria has had a significant impact on the history of the Caribbean, due to its effects on the colonization of the islands and the corresponding impact on society and economy.

Malaria was not found in the Americas prior to the discovery of the New World by Europeans. There was therefore even less immunity among the native populations than there was among Europeans.^[1] Due to their genetics, African slaves had greater immunity to falciparum malaria, and this was one reason why slaves were brought in great numbers from Africa.

Creoles felt that diseases such as malaria were tools preventing their territories being invaded by Europeans.^{[citation needed]}

The Caribbean countries most affected by malaria were the Greater Antilles islands and other humid islands like Martinique and Trinidad and Tobago. Anopheles mosquitoes thrive mostly in areas of humidity and fresh water, so the disease was not found on islands such as the Bahamas and Antigua.^{[citation needed]}

As of 2019, several cases of malaria occur each year in Trinidad and Tobago.^[2]

See also

• Influx of disease in the Caribbean

References

• McNeill, J. R. (2010-01-11). Mosquito Empires: Ecology and War in the Greater Caribbean, 1620–1914. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 9781139484503.
• "CARPHA urges region to deal seriously to eradicate mosquitoes". May 14, 2019.

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Malaria in the Americas

• United States and Canada
• Latin America and the Caribbean

• Latin America
  • Hispanic
• North America
  • Northern
  • Caribbean
  • Central America
• South America

Sovereign states

• Antigua and Barbuda
• Argentina
• Bahamas
• Barbados
• Belize
• Bolivia
• Brazil
• Canada
• Chile
• Colombia
• Costa Rica
• Cuba
• Dominica
• Dominican Republic
• Ecuador
• El Salvador
• Grenada
• Guatemala
• Guyana
• Haiti
• Honduras
• Jamaica
• Mexico
• Nicaragua
• Panama
• Paraguay
• Peru
• Saint Kitts and Nevis
• Saint Lucia
• Saint Vincent and the Grenadines
• Suriname
• Trinidad and Tobago
• United States
• Uruguay
• Venezuela

Dependencies and
other territories

• Anguilla
• Aruba
• Bermuda
• Bonaire
• British Virgin Islands
• Cayman Islands
• Curaçao
• Falkland Islands
• French Guiana
• Greenland
• Guadeloupe
• Martinique
• Montserrat
• Puerto Rico
• Saba
• Saint Barthélemy
• Saint Martin
• Saint Pierre and Miquelon
• Sint Eustatius
• Sint Maarten
• South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands
• Turks and Caicos Islands
• U.S. Virgin Islands