Fascinating historical facts about malaria

• By one estimate, malaria has killed half the people who have ever lived on this planet
• Fossils of mosquitoes 30 million years old show signs of malaria, suggesting even prehistoric man could have suffered
• Researchers studying bodies of ancient Egyptians have found evidence of malaria in people who lived over 3,000 years ago
• Malaria is thought to have directly contributed to the fall of the Roman Empire
• In 1574 the Vatican was moved from its original location to where it stands today by Pope Gregory XIII because of the high incidence of malaria that had led to its unhealthy reputation
• William Shakespeare (1564–1616), mentioned ague (malaria) in eight of his plays. For example, in The Tempest (Act II, Scene II), the slave Caliban curses Prosper, his master: "All the infections that the sun sucks up / from bogs, fens, flats, on Prosper fall and make him / By inch-meal a disease!"
• Lancisi (1717) linked the disease with poisonous vapours of swamps and thus originated the name malaria, meaning bad air
• In 1809 Napoleon used malaria as a biological warfare agent, flooding the Dutch countryside. Over 4,000 British Army troops are reported to have died of the disease with another 10,000 unable to continue with military service