Many antimalarial drugs exist today, but researchers are looking for new treatments for the disease, since the protozoans that cause it are becoming increasingly immune to long-used medications.

A group of Norwegian scientists is currently analyzing the effect of dozens of African plants extracts on malaria, in hopes that one ore more will be found to treat the infection. Many of these varieties of flora have been used by Africans for thousands of years as alternative medicines.

Malaria is caused by Plasmodium falciparum, a species of protozoan that is transmitted via mosquito bite. The World Health Organization estimates that 225 million people contract the disease every year.

Most of the 781,000 malaria-related deaths occur in sub-Saharan Africa, according to the organization.

With luck, the team hopes to find a natural extract that kills P. falciparum. Its members say that they take courage from the knowledge that sweet wormwood and cinchona bark have been used for more than a century to treat malaria.

Cinchona bark is used to produce quinine, one of the most widely used antimalarials and an ingredient, incidentally, in tonic water.

Individuals who prefer natural and alternative remedies may be interested in herbal supplements, which can be found in most grocery stores and pharmacies.