George Clooney: I contracted malaria in Sudan

George Clooney: I contracted malaria in Sudan

George Clooney said in a TV interview to be aired Friday that he had malaria when he visited Sudan to monitor elections there. His trip to the troubled African nation was part of his work as a humanitarian and human rights activist.

Malaria is transmitted through mosquito bites and is common in tropical and subtropical countries. Sub-Saharan Africa has the highest number of cases. The infection can cause fever, muscle pain, chills, nausea, diarrhea and even coma or death.

In a transcript of his interview with talk show host Piers Morgan on his new CNN program, Clooney agreed with Morgan's joke about the infection being the plan of Sudanese President Omar al-Beshir who is accused of genocide and other war crimes.

"I guess the mosquito in Juba looked at me and thought I was the bar," George Clooney said. He said he had malaria twice but did not say what his symptoms were.

Morgan, who replaced retired host Larry King, then asked if the Sudanese ruler had "detached a detail of sickly, vengeful mosquitoes to target you whenever you arrive?", to which the Hollywood actor replied, "Yeah. I think so."

Former British journalist turned talk show host Morgan then later posted a message on Twitter, saying, "Clooney malaria update: now have 24,563 offers to nurse him."

George Clooney visited southern Sudan earlier this month to monitor a referendum about a possible split of the country into two. Clooney was also working with the U.N. on a satellite mapping project which he said will help prevent abuses in Sudan by detecting hot spots.

Posted by Kade Quinn on Friday January 21 2011, 12:49 AM EDT. Ref: Inquirer. All trademarks acknowledged. Filed under Entertainment, Featured News. Comments and Trackbacks closed. Follow responses: RSS 2.0