Malaria is endemic in several countries in the Indian Ocean subregion (Madagascar and the Union of the Comoros) as well as in areas with significant trade (Africa, Asia). In Mayotte, two competent vectors are present: Anopheles gambiae and Anopheles funestus.

Following a decline in malaria control efforts between 1990 and 2000, the reorganization of services since 2002 has led to a sharp reduction in the number of locally acquired cases, from 294 cases in 2007 to just 1 case in 2015. In 2014, the WHO declared that Mayotte had officially entered the malaria elimination phase.

In 2016, however, a concerning resurgence of locally acquired cases (18 cases) was observed and continued into 2017 (9 cases). Since then, local transmission has declined sharply (3 cases in 2018). Indeed, despite the increase in the number of reported malaria cases in 2019 (54 cases), only 4 were locally acquired, with the vast majority being imported.

Since July 2020, no locally acquired cases have been recorded in Mayotte. From January 2021 to July 2023, 72 cases of imported malaria were reported in Mayotte, including 19 in 2021, 34 in 2022, and 19 in the first half of 2023 (Figure 1). Of the 19 cases reported in the first half of 2023, 9 were imported from the Comoros and 10 from East African countries, including Somalia (6 cases in May 2023).

Plasmodium falciparum is the most common species among cases reported in Mayotte (95% since 2006). Of the 148 cases of non-P. falciparum malaria recorded since 2006, 137 were reported before 2014 (82 P. malariae, 44 P. vivax, 8 P. ovale, and 3 unspecified) and 11 (out of 262) after 2014 (8 P. malariae, 1 P. vivax, 2 P. ovale).