Loss of rain forest leads to malaria spike, UW researchers find

Chopping down the rain forest can harm animals such as toucans, golden lion tamarind monkeys and poison dart frogs. Now, add another species to the list – humans. Deforestation in the Brazilian Amazon can lead to malaria epidemics years later, according to a new study from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. The work “points out how tropical forest conservation can be important for human health,” said UW-Madison epidemiologist Sarah Olson, lead author of the study.