The health ministry of Uganda has attributed a recent malaria outbreak to climate change. Officials say more than one million people have been infected with malaria in Uganda over the last two months—a 40% increase from the same period last year. The disease is now appearing in regions that were previously malaria-free, according to a statement by the health ministry.
Incidences of malaria peak after the heavy rains which routinely fall between March to May. This year, however, prolonged June rains have created more fertile breeding environment for the mosquitoes that transmit the infectious disease according to reporting by the BBC.
Between Feb. 2017 and March 2018, 38 million mosquito bed-nets were distributed across the country in an effort to quell the outbreak. However, officials said that these nets have begun to age, decreasing their effectiveness.
