Aizawl: Some 119 people including 40 women died of malaria in Mizoram during 2009, state health department said here on Feb 2.

In 2008, 91 people had died of malaria in Mizoram, officials said. They said 1,71,793 people had their blood samples tested during 2009 out of which 9,399 were found to be positive. Doctors attributed high malaria deaths to delayed treatment saying that when malaria patients went to doctors for treatment, it was usually too late.