In 1943, Walt Disney helped combat
malaria by making an animated film called
The Winged Scourge. This short film starred the seven dwarfs and taught children that mosquitoes transmit malaria, which is a very bad disease. While not specifically mentioned in the film, malaria is caused by several species of the protozoan
Plasmodium, of which
Plasmodium vivax and
Plasmodium falciparum are the most common. The most serious infections involve
P. falciparum, which causes a higher incidence of complications and death. The short film advocated the killing of mosquitoes to stop the disease.
Luckily, by 1951, malaria was finally eliminated in the United States (
eliminated means that no new cases arose in the country for 3 years). Today, oral
chloroqui ...