Throwing basket of diagnostics, drugs, vaccines and mozzie stoppers at malaria has not stopped the disease The disease we know as Malaria was thought to be caused by breathing “bad air” (mal aria) that emanates from swamps. This was not “fake news” but a lack of understanding and evidence at the time. As you probably know, swamps and stagnant water are excellent breeding sites for mosquitoes that transmit the Plasmodium parasites that cause the disease