Malaria threatens to kill 100,000 in Asia

Malaria could kill up to 100,000 people in coming months across Indian Ocean communities devastated by the tsunami if authorities do not quickly move to kill mosquitoes, a health expert warned today.

Health agencies were planning to launch a massive spraying campaign in Indonesia – the hardest-hit country – on Friday to kill mosquitoes that carry the deadly disease, said Richard Allan, director of the Mentor Initiative, the aid group leading the malaria campaign in Indonesia.