PHNOM PENH (Xinhua) - Cambodia recorded 41,850 malaria cases in 2013, down 40 percent from 69,550 cases a year earlier, a health official said Sunday.
The disease killed 12 people last year, down 74 percent from 46 deaths a year earlier, Char Meng Chuor, director of the National Center for Malaria, said in a press statement.
Based on the figures, it can be concluded that death toll from malaria is no longer a major threat to the Cambodian people, but more efforts are still needed towards the complete elimination of the disease by 2025, he said.
Malaria is a mosquito-borne infectious disease, which is often found in rainy seasons and mostly happens in forest and mountainous provinces.
"We'd like to urge people living in malaria-prone areas to sleep under insecticide-treated mosquito nets at nights so that they can prevent themselves from being bitten by mosquitoes," he said.