Malaria warning as number of cases doubles in a year

THE number of malaria cases in Ireland has doubled in the past year, as a new survey shows that most travellers are not concerned about the risk of the disease.

So far, this year, there have been 76 cases of the tropical disease notified to the Health Protection Surveillance Centre, compared to just 36 in the same period last year, and a total of 44 in 2005.

The figures come as a survey shows that travellers going to high-risk malaria areas were more concerned about the prospect of a terror attack.