title: Origin of malaria cases: a 7-year audit of global trends in indigenous and imported cases in relation to malaria elimination.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Countries in the different stages of pre-elimination, elimination, and prevention of reintroduction are required to report the number of indigenous and imported malaria cases to the World Health Organization (WHO). However, these data have not been systematically analysed at the global level.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  For the period 2007 to 2013, we aimed to report on 1) the proportion of countries providing data on the origin of malaria cases and 2) the origin of malaria cases in countries classified as being in the stages of pre-elimination, elimination and prevention of reintroduction.
  
  
  METHODS
  An observational study using annual data reported through routine health information systems to the WHO Global Malaria Programme between 2007 and 2013.
  
  
  RESULTS
  For all countries classified as being in pre-elimination, elimination, and prevention of reintroduction in the year 2013, there has been a substantial decrease in the total number of indigenous malaria cases, from more than 15,000 cases reported in 2007 to less than 4,000 cases reported in 2013. However, the total number of imported malaria cases has increased over that time period, from 5,600 imported cases in 2007 to approximately 6,800 in 2013.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Vigilant monitoring of the numbers of imported and indigenous malaria cases at national and global levels as well as appropriate strategies to target these cases will be critical to achieve malaria eradication.
authors.affiliation: Barcelona Institute for Global Health, Barcelona, Spain; mar.velarde@isglobal.org.
authors.forename: Mar
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Velarde-Rodríguez
authors.affiliation: Brussels Operational Centre, Médecins sans Frontières, Luxembourg, Luxembourg.
authors.forename: Rafael
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Van den Bergh
authors.affiliation: Global Malaria Programme, World Health Organization, Geneva, Switzerland.
authors.forename: Cristin
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Fergus
authors.affiliation: Barcelona Institute for Global Health, Barcelona, Spain.
authors.forename: Aina
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Casellas
authors.affiliation: Barcelona Institute for Global Health, Barcelona, Spain.
authors.forename: Sergi
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Sanz
authors.affiliation: Global Malaria Programme, World Health Organization, Geneva, Switzerland.
authors.forename: Richard
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Cibulskis
authors.affiliation: Special Programme for Research and Training in Tropical Diseases, World Health Organization, Geneva, Switzerland.
authors.forename: Andrew R
authors.initials: AR
authors.lastname: Ramsay
authors.affiliation: International Union against Tuberculosis and Lung Disease, Paris, France.
authors.forename: Karen
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Bissell
authors.affiliation: Brussels Operational Centre, Médecins sans Frontières, Luxembourg, Luxembourg.
authors.forename: Rony
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Zachariah
mesh_terms: D060740:Disease Eradication / Q000458:organization & administration*; D018562:Disease Transmission, Infectious / Q000517:prevention & control*; D019353:Endemic Diseases; D014943:Global Health / Q000639:trends; D006291:Health Policy / Q000639:trends; D006801:Humans; D007391:International Cooperation; D008288:Malaria / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000517:prevention & control / Q000635:transmission; D009937:Organizational Objectives; D011159:Population Surveillance / Q000379:methods; D014195:Travel; D014944:World Health Organization
keywords: elimination; eradication; imported case; indigenous case; infection origin; malaria; operational research; prevention of reintroduction