This Disney video, which was apparently commissioned by the federal government, certainly implies that malaria was a major concern. The CDC's website has a brief writeup that includes some statistics, but I can't tell how serious the problem actually was from their information.
Was the apparent concern justified as far as historians can tell or was it just overblown? And if it wasn't a real problem, did officials genuinely believe that it might become one or has there been speculation about what ulterior motives might have played a part?
Thanks!
Malaria is thought to have killed 1 out of every 2 humans who have ever lived. Almost nothing about malaria can be overblown.
Some parts of the US, prior to the National Malaria Eradication Program, had malaria rates as high as 30%. This has a staggering effect on the population and economy.
The National Malaria Eradication Program was able to eradicate malaria from the US in four years, and its methods were spread to other countries which made great strides in the effort to eradicate malaria worldwide. Unfortunately, many of the gains made in the effort against malaria were lost when pressure to stop using DDT contributed to a reduction in funding of eradication programs by wealthy countries.