Abstract:

Malaria was as old as human kind itself and had been the most potent scourge in humans from time immemorial in the World and Afro-Asian settings in particular. It was a disease caused by parasites of genus plasmodium namely: Plasmodium falciparum (Pf), Plasmodium ovale curtisi (Poc), Plasmodium ovale wallikeri (Pow), Plasmodium malariae (Pm), Plasmodium vivax (Pv) and Plasmodium Knowlesi (Pk) (Nzobo, Ngalasa and Kihamia 2015). These worked through a female anopheles mosquito. This study therefore, aimed to establish the spatio-temporal distribution of malaria in Samfya District, Zambia. Random and non-random research designs were used to obtain the sample and data for the study. There were 394 respondents, 3 Focus Group Discussions (FGDs) and 11 key informants.

The results showed that there were more women than men who were afflicted by malaria as evidenced in the questionnaires, FGDs and the hospital records. Age too was a contributing factor as the under 5 year old (U/5 years) and the aged were more vulnerable to malaria as their immunities were low due to nutrition deficiencies. Income determined whether a household could afford to buy an ITN or any mosquito sprays to control the mosquito nuisance. The population was poor as 72.2% of the respondents earned less than ZMK 700 (US $ 70) per month. This was also related to the occupations the population was engaged in. Sixty-one point five percent (61.5%) were farmers who earned their incomes once per year after their crop harvests.

House construction materials showed that 60% of the roofs were grass thatched, Iron/Asbestos (33.5%) and tiles (2.3%). The exterior house construction materials results were as follows: burnt bricks (61.2%), cement blocks (13.7%), unburnt bricks (10.9%), timber (5.3%) and straw/grass (0.3%). In terms of sources of energy, there were 5 sources that were used by the respondents in the study and these were: hydroelectricity (9.4%), Firewood (50.5%), Charcoal (36.3%), Crop residue (3%) and Firewood and Charcoal (0.8%).These factors contributed to the spatio-temporal distribution of malaria in Samfya District.

Keywords: Distribution, Malaria, Spatial, Temporal

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