A Malaria Awareness Day symposium on Wednesday, April 25 at the University of California, Davis will spotlight the severity of malaria, the history of malaria in California, and the UC commitment to global health.

The UC Davis Center for Vectorborne Diseases will host the symposium from noon to 2:30 p.m. in the Main Theatre, Wright Hall, to "educate the campus community and general public about one of the world's oldest and deadliest diseases," said medical entomologist and center director Gregory Lanzaro.

The event, free and open to the public, is part of Malaria Awareness Day activities throughout the world.

"Malaria, a parasitic disease transmitted by mosquitoes, is a public health problem in more than 100 countries, or 40 percent of the global population," Lanzaro said. "It kills a child in Africa every 30 seconds."

Chancellor Larry Vanderhoef will deliver introductory remarks, focusing on the UC commitment to global health. Speakers from the UC Davis School of Veterinary Medicine, UC Davis Department of Entomology, UC Davis School of Medicine and the UC San Francisco School of Medicine will address the issue, the research under way, and what the general public can do to help.

"Worldwide, malaria causes some 350-500 million illnesses annually and more than one million die," said Lanzaro, who attended the White House Summit on Malaria last December, when President Bush declared April 25 as Malaria Day. "Malaria is particularly devastating in Africa. Most susceptible are children under five and pregnant women."

The Center for Vectorborne Diseases includes researchers from the UC Davis College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences, UC Davis School of Veterinary Medicine and the UC Davis School of Medicine.


The UC Davis Malaria Day program:
--Introduction
Chancellor Larry Vanderhoef

--What Is Malaria? Malaria in Africa
Shirley Luckhart, Medical Microbiology and Immunology, UC Davis School of Medicine

--Socio-Economic Impact of Malaria in Africa
Carol Medlin, UC San Francisco School of Medicine's Institute for Global Health

--History of Malaria in California
Robert Washino, UC Davis Department of Entomology

--Current Novel Malaria Control Strategies
Anthony Cornel, UC Davis Department of Entomology

--Malaria Research and Training Opportunities at UC Davis
Gregory Lanzaro, director of the UC Davis Center for Vectorborne Diseases, UC Mosquito Research Program and the UC Malaria Research and Control Group

--UC Partnership with California Mosquito Control Programs
Steve Mulligan, manager, Consolidated Mosquito Abatement District, Selma, and member of the UC Malaria Research and Control Group

--Global Health in the Context of New Public Health Programs at UC Davis
--Marc Schenker, director, Center for Occupational and Environmental Health, UC Davis, and professor of public health sciences, UC Davis School of Medicine

--White House Summit on Malaria Video: The Gift of Growing Up

--Concluding Remarks
Gregory Lanzaro

Four of the speakers-Lanzaro, Cornel, Luckhart and Mulligan-are members of the UC Malaria Research and Control Group (UC MRCG), comprised of 21 scientists from five UC campuses and mosquito abatement experts from the Mosquito and Vector Control Association of California. Formed in February 2006, the group is part of the UC Mosquito Research Program, a statewide program of the UC Division of Agriculture and Natural Resources.

Lanzaro, Cornel and Luckhart, all medical entomologists, conduct field work in Africa. Mulligan participated in the four-member UC MRCG delegation that traveled to Tanzania last summer to develop collaborations and build partnerships for malaria control and research. The delegation, led by Lanzaro and Cornel, also included Major Dhillon, manager of the Northwest Mosquito and Vector Control District, Corona.

Carol Medlin, a UC San Francisco faculty member at the Institute for Global Health in the Department of Anthropology, History, and Social Medicine, conducts research on behavioral and treatment practices for malaria in Vanuatu on a grant funded by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. She co-authored the final report of the external review of the Roll Back Malaria international partnership, "Achieving Impact: Roll Back Malaria in the Next Phase."

Medical entomologist Robert Washino, emeritus professor and former chair of the UC Davis Department of Entomology, co-authored Mosquitoes of California. His presentation will include malaria cases in California.

Schenker, who directs the Center for Occupational and Environmental Health and the UC Western Center for Agricultural Health and Safety, both at UC Davis, focuses his research on a wide range of occupational and environmental health hazards, including the toxic effects of pesticides and other agricultural chemicals.

Malaria, first recognized 4,000 years ago and eradicated in the United States in the early 1950s, has been eliminated in many parts of Asia, Europe and the Americas, but is raging uncontrolled in sub-Saharan Africa, Lanzaro said. He attributes the spike to more efficient mosquito vectors, increased pesticide and drug resistance, and socio-economic factors, including struggling health systems.