'Original source' of malaria reported

Scientists claim they have pinpointed the original source of malaria - a parasite found in chimpanzees.

The parasite comes from equatorial Africa and may have jumped from chimpanzees to humans, possibly through one mosquito, according to University of California researchers.

Study leader Francisco Ayala and colleagues have predicted that the transmission took place around 5,000 years ago.

Dr Ayala explained that this discovery could lead to greater understanding of malaria and improved ways of combating the disease, as well as valuable information about how diseases are spread from animals to humans.

"When malaria transferred to humans, it became very severe very quickly," she wrote in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

"The disease in humans has become resistant to many drugs. It's my hope that our discovery will bring us closer to making a vaccine."

A parasite called Plasmodium falciparum is the cause of human malignant malaria.

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