[Current malaria situation in Reunion (November 1994)]

Malaria appeared in Réunion in the middle of the 19th century. Since then until immediately after the second world war, the disease had developed so far as to represent one third of the reasons for medical consultations and one quarter of the deaths on the island. Starting in 1948, eradication campaigns were conducted with modern means of fighting malaria. These led to the disappearance of the native disease, officially recognized by the WHO in 1979.