Bangkok, Apr 7 (IANS/RIA Novosti): A drug-resistant malaria strain, which health officials had hoped to contain to a small area in southwest Asia, has spread significantly along the Thai-Myanmar border, a joint study by US and British doctors said Friday.
The strain, known as P. falciparum, is the most deadly form of the mosquito-transmitted parasitic organism, and responsible for nine out of 10 malaria deaths. It is found in tropical regions around the world.
The study published in the British-based Lancet medical journal raised fears that the strain may reach India and Africa.
Malaria deaths have declined worldwide by almost a third over the past decade, thanks to artemisinin, a malaria treatment that was developed in China. But a malaria strain resistant to artemisinin surfaced on the Cambodia-Thailand border in 2006.