The Zambezi Region has recorded 33,944 cases of malaria since January.

Muyako, Choi and Sesheke Clinics are the major hotspots, accounting for 49% of the 706 cases reported recently over a five-week period.

Health authorities have identified mosquito breeding sites and environmental factors contributing to the increase.

The latest report from the Directorate of Health found active mosquito breeding sites around Muyako village and Lake Liambezi.

In Choi, outdoor activities increase residents' exposure to mosquito bites, while poor sanitation and stagnant water in discarded containers create mosquito breeding sites in Sesheke.

The region has recorded 22 fatalities.

Leader of the Malaria Indoor Residual Spraying team, Jacobina Nangombe, said, "So far we are facing challenges, but not really major ones. We are having people that are actually refusing, but then once they refuse, we go to the chief; we talk to the chief, and then the chief goes back to that community, and later even if we are done with that village, they come back to us and call us, and we come back to spray, but it's not really something that is affecting our progress because they call us back, which is really a good thing."

Sangwali Village, Induna, Alex Mbwe, says cooperation has improved this year.

"The ministry officials came and engaged the public regarding the indoor residual spray. It's very true that the number of people who had not homes sprayed previously was high, so when they came to engage people and the traditional authority, the khuta strongly advised residents to take this year's campaign very seriously and allow them in their homes. If there's anyone that has not had their home sprayed, then perhaps it's just out of sheer stubbornness. All of us here agreed that we must leave our homes open so that they can have access."

Mbwe says residents whose homes have not yet been sprayed can still contact the teams, emphasising that leaving one house unsprayed could put others at risk and undermine efforts to control Malaria.