How Illegal Gold Mining Relates To The Spread Of Malaria

By Shankar Vedantam

Published May 30, 2017 at 10:31 AM CDT

A person illegally pans for gold at a site in the Department of Choco near the city of Quibdo, Colombia, on Friday, Nov. 11, 2016. According to Santiago Angel, head of the Colombian mining association, about 85 percent of the 59 tons of gold produced last year in Colombia comes from operations without government licenses or environmental permits.

Corrected: May 10, 2017 at 11:00 PM CDT

During this report, malaria is referred to as a virus. In fact, the disease is caused by a parasite.

Shankar Vedantam

Shankar Vedantam is NPR's social science correspondent and the host of Hidden Brain. The focus of his reporting is on human behavior and the social sciences, and how research in those fields can get listeners to think about the news in unusual and interesting ways. Hidden Brain is among the most popular podcasts in the world, with over two million downloads per week. The Hidden Brain radio show is featured on some 250 public radio stations across the United States.

See stories by Shankar Vedantam

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