The Department of Health is urging South Africans to be vigilant ahead of "malaria season" after almost 70 people died of the illness this year.

According to health department spokesperson, Foster Mohale, summer marks the start of malaria season in South Africa due to higher temperatures and increased rainfall in malaria transmission areas.

"At least 66 deaths have been recorded [between January and October], and all people who experience malaria-suspected symptoms, which include headache, fever, chills muscle and joint pains, are urged to visit their local health facility without delay for effective treatment if they test positive.

"So far, over 7 400 malaria cases have been recorded between January and October this year in South Africa, and only 17% of these cases are locally acquired. The rest are imported cases, meaning more people got infected while out of the country," he said.

The department has urged people to take precautions when travelling to and from malaria-endemic or high-risk areas.

Most of the people who were hospitalised, had travelled to Mozambique, Ethiopia, Nigeria, Zimbabwe, Zambia and Angola.

In South Africa, malaria is endemic to Limpopo, Mpumalanga and KwaZulu-Natal.

Malaria symptoms include fever, headache, general body aches and pains, general body weakness, nausea, vomiting, loss of appetite, diarrhoea and flu-like symptoms.

A failure to seek urgent medical treatment can increase the risk of dying from malaria, Mohale warned.

"Malaria is a life-threatening but preventable and curable disease. Early detection saves lives. The department is intensifying its malaria response plan through malaria screening and testing around borders in high-malaria risk provinces throughout the year for early detection of imported cases."

According to the National Institute for Communicable Diseases (NICD), it is a life-threatening disease caused by blood parasites which are transmitted via the bites of infected mosquitoes. In the human body, the parasites first multiply in the liver, and then infect the red blood cells.

It is preventable and curable, but globally, it is one of the six major causes of death as a result of communicable diseases.

Around 90% of the world's approximately 440 000 annual malaria deaths occur in Africa.

Between 2015 and 2019, South Africa had between about 10 000 and 30 000 notified cases of malaria per year, the NICD said.