QUESTION

If someone has malaria, is it contagious?

ANSWER

No. Malaria cannot be transmitted via touching or saliva or air. In virtually all cases, it is only transmitted by the bite of an infected mosquito, and so cannot be passed from one person to another. There are a few exception—because the parasite lives in certain organs and in the blood, it can sometimes be transmitted via blood transfusion or organ transplant. It can also pass via the placenta from a mother to her unborn child, or to the child during childbirth.