A cheap, common heartworm medication that is already

being used to fight other parasites in Africa, could also

dramatically interrupt transmission of malaria, potentially

providing an inexpensive tool to fight a disease that kills

almost 800 000 people each year, according to a new study

published last week in the July edition of the American

Journal of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene. The study by

scientists from Senegal and Colorado State University found

that transmission of malaria parasites by mosquitoes fell

substantially among people living in several Senegalese

villages over two weeks after they took the drug ivermectin,

which was administered as part of a campaign to fight the

parasitic roundworm that causes onchocerciasis, or river

blindness.

ALLAFRICA.COM