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 spleen in Pedanius Dioscorides's "De Materia Medica" have been suggested to have been a response to chronic malaria in the Roman empire. Some so-called "vampire burials" in late antiquity may have been performed in response to malaria epidemics. For example, some children who died of malaria were buried in the necropolis at Lugnano in Teverina using rituals meant to prevent them from returning from the dead. Modern scholars hypothesize that communities feared that the dead would return and spread disease. In 835, the celebration of Hallowmas (All Saints Day) was moved from May to November at the behest of Pope