Malaria is a life threatening disease caused by five species of protozoan parasite of the genus Plasmodium (P. falciparum, P. vivax, P. malariae, P. ovale and P. knowlesi) that is transmitted to humans through the bites of an infected 34 female anopheles mosquito [1,2,3]. Nearly all human deaths by malaria are caused by P. falciparum, mainly in sub-Saharan Africa. Globally, an estimated 3.3 billion people in 97 countries and territories are at risk of being infected with malaria and developing disease and 1.2 billion are at high risk [3,4]. It is estimated that 198 million cases of malaria occurred globally in 2013 and the disease led to 584,000 deaths representing a decrease in malaria case incidence and mortality rates of 30% and 47% since 2000, respectively [5,6]. It is considered a disease of poverty and duly recognized as a public health problem with overwhelming medical, social and economic implications. Malaria exacts a heavy burden on the poorest and most vulnerable communities of which the people of Kawo metropolis, Kaduna State is not an exception. Within endemic countries, the poorest and most marginalized communities are the most severely affected, having the highest risks associated with malaria, and the least access to effective services for prevention, diagnosis and treatment [7]. Typhoid fever is a bacterial infection due to Salmonella typhi. Salmonella’s genus is Gram-negative, motile, non-sporing, non-capsulate bacilli which exist in nature primarily as parasites of the intestinal tract of man and other animals [8].

Salmonella typhi and the paratyphoid bacilli are found only in the intestinal tract of man for whom they have a high degree of pathogenicity and in which they frequently cause invasive disease that causes symptoms which may vary from mild to severe and usually begin six to thirty days after exposure with gradual onset of a high fever after several days [9,10]. Weakness, abdominal pain, constipation, and headaches are the commonest symptoms. Some people develop a skin rash with rose colored spots. Without treatment, symptoms may last for weeks or months. Other people may carry the bacterium without symptoms; however, they are still able to spread the disease to others [11,12].

Typhoid and malaria fever are two leading febrile illness affecting humans, especially in sub-Saharan Africa. They remain the diseases of major public health importance and the cause of morbidity and mortality. An association between malaria and typhoid fever was first described in 1862 in North America as an entity called typho-malaria fever [10,13]. It is acquired by the ingestion of food and/or water contaminated with the faeces of an infected person, which contain the bacterium, Salmonella enteric serovar typhi; humans are the only infected [1,14]. Risk factors include poverty as a result of poor sanitation and poor hygiene [15]. In the year 2000 and 2010, an estimated 21.7 million and 13.5 million typhoid fever illnesses were recorded. Between years 2000 and 2013, it resulted in estimated 217,000 and 161,000 deaths respectively [16,17]. Infants, children, and adolescents in south-central and Southeast Asia experience the greatest burden of illness [18,19]. Nonetheless, outbreaks of typhoid fever are frequently reported from sub-Saharan Africa and countries in Southeast Asia [20,21].

Due to the geographical overlap of both infections, co-infections are very common. However, the precise incidence of the concurrent malaria and typhoid fever in most geographical areas is largely uncertain, as both share social circumstances which are imperative to their transmission; individuals in areas endemic for both diseases are at substantial risk of contracting both these diseases, either concurrently or an acute infection superimposed on a chronic one [22]. While high prevalence of malaria is an established fact, it is only within the last decade that an unusually high number of illnesses have been diagnosed as malaria co-existing with typhoid fever [23,24,25]. Malaria and typhoid fever often present with mimicking symptoms especially in the early stages of typhoid fever [23,25]. The situation often presents a diagnostic problem and in some cases could lead to diagnostic confusion. As a result of this, the importance of definitive laboratory-based diagnosis cannot be overstated, before an individual is said to have concurrent malaria and typhoid fever, the presence of Plasmodium species and Salmonella enteric sub-sp enterica serotype typhi must be demonstrated in the patient’s laboratory specimens [26].

Both diseases are common in many countries of the world where poor sanitary habit, poverty and ignorance exist. The first non-specific manifestations include fever, headache, abdominal pain and vomiting. Despite the importance of concurrent malaria and typhoid fever in the tropics, the challenges associated with the diagnosis and the public health implications have not been comprehensively reviewed. Hence, this paper presents a study carried out to determine the prevalence of malaria, typhoid and their confection in Kawo Metropolis, Kaduna, Kaduna State State.