Before There Were Bed Nets

It might come as little surprise to you that many mosquitoes roam the Nile Valley.  They also did so 3,000 years ago, and experts think they even killed one of the most powerful figures in Egyptian history: Tutankhamen, aka King Tut.  A recent DNA-based study points to malaria as the probable cause of death for the nineteen year-old pharaoh.

This is a reminder that malaria, one of the deadliest diseases in human history, is also one of the oldest.  Some experts claim that it even predates humanity! 

The good news is that we have made huge strides in the fight against malaria. We need to keep up our momentum and continue to help the United Nations reach its goal of ending malaria deaths by 2015.  So, send a net to save a life and put malaria where it belongs: in a history textbook alongside King Tut, Cleopatra, and other long-gone bigwigs.