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George Clooney got malaria in Sudan

Hollywood heartthrob and rights activist George Clooney contracted malaria during his recent visit to Sudan for voting there and had a "bad 10 days", he said.

The A-list star jokingly agreed that Sudanese President Omar al-Beshir, who is wanted for war crimes and genocide by the International Criminal Court (ICC), may be to blame for the mosquito bite that infected him.

"I guess the mosquito in Juba looked at me and thought I was the bar," he quipped.

Malaria can cause fever, chills, muscle aches, nausea and diarrhoea, as well as jaundice, turning the skin and whites of the eyes yellow. Clooney said he had suffered from it twice, but did not elaborate on what symptoms he had.

A spokesman for Clooney told AFP the star was now well again. "George is completely over the malaria he contracted while in the Sudan during the first week in January. This was his second bout with it."

10 days instead of a death sentence

And he quoted Clooney as saying: "This illustrates how with proper medication, the most lethal condition in Africa, can be reduced to a bad 10 days instead of a death sentence."

Clooney travelled to southern Sudan in early January in a show of support for the impoverished region ahead of a referendum on separating the mainly Christian, African south from the mainly Arab, Muslim north. (Sapa/ January 2011)

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