For countries aiming for malaria elimination, travel of infected individuals between endemic
areas undermines local interventions. Quantifying parasite importation has therefore
become a priority for national control programs. We analyzed epidemiological surveillance
data, travel surveys, parasite genetic data, and anonymized mobile phone data to measure
the spatial spread of malaria parasites in southeast Bangladesh. We developed a genetic
mixing index to estimate the likelihood of samples being local or imported from parasite …