A new study on the evolution of the parasite has found that, Malaria started from a parasite in birds, then evolved to colonize bats and after that spread to other mammals. Holly Lutz from Cornell University in the US said, "We cannot begin to understand how malaria spread to humans until we understand its evolutionary history. In learning about its past, we may be better able to understand the effects it has on us,"

Blood samples from hundreds of East African birds,bats,mammals took by Researchers When they found malaria, they took samples of the parasites' DNA and sequenced it to analyze mutations in the genetic code.

The identification revealed that malaria has its roots in bird hosts, from which it spread to bats, and then on to other mammals.

The findings were published in the journal Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution