Tracking malaria parasites using genomics surveillance

Prof Isabella Oyier, leading Molecular Biologist, Associate Professor and Head of Bioscience at the KEMRI-Wellcome Trust Research Programme in Kenya.

Malaria remains a major global health priority and one of the deadliest diseases in Africa.

According to the World Health Organization's (WHO) World Malaria Report 2022, half the world was at risk of malaria, with 247 million cases of malaria and 619,000 malaria deaths. In Kenya, nearly 6.7 million clinical malaria cases are reported annually, and an estimated 4,000 die majority of whom are children.