Relationships between transmission of malaria in Africa and climate factors

Abstract

Abstract The spread of malaria is related to climate change because temperature and rainfall are key parameters of climate change. Fluctuations in temperature affect the spread of malaria by lowering or speeding up its rate of transmission. The amount of rainfall also affects the transmission of malaria by offering a lot of sites suitable for mosquitoes to breed in. However, a high amount of rainfall does not have a great effect. Because of the high malaria incidence and the death rates in African regions, by using malaria incidence data, temperature data and rainfall data collected in 1901–2015, we construct and analyze climate networks to show how climate relates to the transmission of malaria in African countries. Malaria networks show a positive correlation with temperature and rainfall networks, except for the 1981–2015 period, in which the malaria network shows a negative correlation with rainfall.