History of malaria millennium BCE in Greece and China. For thousands of years, traditional herbal remedies have been used to treat malaria. The first effective treatment for malaria came from the bark of cinchona tree, which contains quinine. After the link to mosquitos and their parasites were identified in the early twentieth century, mosquito control measures such as widespread use of the insecticide DDT, swamp drainage, covering or oiling the surface of open water sources, indoor residual spraying and use of insecticide treated nets was initiated. Prophylactic quinine was prescribed in malaria endemic areas, and new therapeutic drugs, including chloroquine and artemisinins, were
History of malaria opened in 1962 by "Silent Spring", written by American biologist Rachel Carson, which launched the environmental movement in the West. The book catalogued the environmental impacts of indiscriminate DDT spraying and suggested that DDT and other pesticides cause cancer and that their agricultural use was a threat to wildlife. The U.S. Agency for International Development supports indoor DDT spraying as a vital component of malaria control programs and has initiated DDT and other insecticide spraying programs in tropical countries. Other insecticides are available for mosquito control, as well as physical measures, such as draining the wetland breeding grounds and the