Two thirds of the world's population are at risk of catching the killer disease malaria, figures show.
A new report says half a billion people are already infected - 50 per cent more than the World Health Organisation had previously estimated.
There are calls for more action to stop the spread of the preventable disease.
Scientists from the University of Oxford, based at the Kenya Medical Research Institute in Nairobi, based their findings on recent and historical epidemiological, geographical and demographic data.
The information was used to model where people live, the likelihood of them being infected, and their susceptibility to developing the disease.
Professor Bob Snow, who led the investigation, said: "We have taken a conservative approach to estimating how many attacks occur globally each year but even so, the problem is far bigger than we previously thought.
"We have taken a science-driven approach to working out who is at risk, where they are located and what their chances would be of developing an attack of malaria.
"Our work has demonstrated that nearly 25 per cent of worldwide cases occur in south-east Asia and the Western Pacific - whereas most people regard Plasmodium falciparum disease a problem particular to Africa.
"Getting numbers right is important. Not knowing the size of the problem limits our ability to articulate how much money we need to tackle the problem - not knowing where the problem is located means you can't spend wisely.
"This is particularly important for new drugs needed to fight malaria. These are expensive and difficult to produce and production capacity and financing can be driven by speculation, poor data or simply best guesses.
"We need to do a better job - driven by data - on working out the burden posed by this killer parasite if we are serious about international goals and targets set by development partners.
"World leaders are now seriously focusing on malaria as a problem that can be tackled with tools we know work and are comparatively cheap. Hopefully these data will provide not only more ammunition as to why they should take it seriously but help them decide where to spend their money to best effect."
Due to Global Warming, it is believed, we are beginning to see more and more insect life seems to be 'heading North' because they are now able to thrive in our warmer climes. In northern Europe, and I believe in the South of North America, we are beginning to see new (to us) bugs, wasps, insects - new genera previously confined to the Equatorial regions. We have no natural immunity because these insects are 'new' to us.
Do you think we are at risk of a new range of illnesses?
A new report says half a billion people are already infected - 50 per cent more than the World Health Organisation had previously estimated.
There are calls for more action to stop the spread of the preventable disease.
Scientists from the University of Oxford, based at the Kenya Medical Research Institute in Nairobi, based their findings on recent and historical epidemiological, geographical and demographic data.
The information was used to model where people live, the likelihood of them being infected, and their susceptibility to developing the disease.
Professor Bob Snow, who led the investigation, said: "We have taken a conservative approach to estimating how many attacks occur globally each year but even so, the problem is far bigger than we previously thought.
"We have taken a science-driven approach to working out who is at risk, where they are located and what their chances would be of developing an attack of malaria.
"Our work has demonstrated that nearly 25 per cent of worldwide cases occur in south-east Asia and the Western Pacific - whereas most people regard Plasmodium falciparum disease a problem particular to Africa.
"Getting numbers right is important. Not knowing the size of the problem limits our ability to articulate how much money we need to tackle the problem - not knowing where the problem is located means you can't spend wisely.
"This is particularly important for new drugs needed to fight malaria. These are expensive and difficult to produce and production capacity and financing can be driven by speculation, poor data or simply best guesses.
"We need to do a better job - driven by data - on working out the burden posed by this killer parasite if we are serious about international goals and targets set by development partners.
"World leaders are now seriously focusing on malaria as a problem that can be tackled with tools we know work and are comparatively cheap. Hopefully these data will provide not only more ammunition as to why they should take it seriously but help them decide where to spend their money to best effect."
Due to Global Warming, it is believed, we are beginning to see more and more insect life seems to be 'heading North' because they are now able to thrive in our warmer climes. In northern Europe, and I believe in the South of North America, we are beginning to see new (to us) bugs, wasps, insects - new genera previously confined to the Equatorial regions. We have no natural immunity because these insects are 'new' to us.
Do you think we are at risk of a new range of illnesses?
