Mobility hinders malaria elimination goals in the Brazilian Amazon.

Mobility-driven malaria reintroduction and reestablishment threaten Brazil’s goal to eliminate Plasmodium falciparum and Plasmodium vivax by 2030 and 2035, respectively, with over 17% of cases imported.

• Why it matters: Understanding how human movement influences malaria spread is crucial for overcoming persistent transmission barriers and achieving elimination in the Brazilian Amazon, where incidence has plateaued since 2020.
• What they did: Analyzing over 5.5 million malaria cases from 2003 to 2023, the study classified importation trajectories, characterized mobility networks by parasite species and locality, and identified reintroduction and reestablishment patterns across municipalities.
• The result: Findings reveal that parasite-specific mobility, especially in mining and indigenous regions, causes repeated reintroductions, with long-lasting transmission periods, highlighting the need for mobility-informed surveillance and targeted interventions.