Cambodia reported 7,668 cases of malaria in the first nine months of 2020, a 70-percent drop from 25,499 over the same period last year, Health Minister Mam Bunheng told Xinhua on Wednesday.

"Among the reported cases, there have been no any deaths," he said, adding that Cambodia has seen no any deaths from malaria since 2018, meaning that the kingdom has achieved zero death from malaria three years earlier than the self-imposed target.

Malaria is a mosquito-borne infectious disease, which is often found in rainy seasons and mostly happens in the forest and mountainous provinces.

Bunheng said that to avoid being bitten by malaria-carrying mosquitos, people living in malaria risk areas should sleep under insecticide-treated mosquito nets all the time.

At a malaria event in western Kampong Speu province on Tuesday, Huy Rekol, director of the National Center for Parasitology, Entomology and Malaria Control, said Cambodia is committed to eliminating malaria cases by 2025.

To achieve that, the Southeast Asian nation would need the budget of approximately 140 million U.S. dollars for the next five years, he said.