Abstract: Objective To investigate the epidemiological characters of malaria in Linzhi district of Tibet. Methods A retrospective analysis on the epidemiology of malaria was carried out using the data on malaria situation in Linzhi district of Tibet in 1986-2004, referring to the distribution of season, population and region. Results The accumulative number of malaria cases in the period of 1986-2004 was 2 459. The annual incidence of malaria in the district was reduced from 2.44 per ten thousand in 1986 to 1.03 per ten thousand in 2004, declined by 57.8% in 17 years. 99.3% of the cases were reported from Motuo County which was a typical high endemic area of malaria. The peak of prevalence occurred in June-October and 66.7% of the total cases were in the age group of 15-59 years old. 81.0% of the cases were farmers and 90.0% were Menba nationality. Conclusion Motuo County has been the major area of malaria endemic in Linzhi district of Tibet. Most malaria cases in other counties are imported from Motuo.

Key words: Tibet, Malaria, Incidence, Epidemiology