What disease from Africa killed many europeans before quinine?

That would be malaria, in French it literally means 'bad air'. At the time, gases or bad elements in the air were thought to be the source of the incurable disease. Now we know that mosquitoes carry it. I know malaria from an unfortunately intimate point of view: I caught a strain of it in Mozambique in 1988, and nearly died. The disease is a major killer in the sub-Saharan countries of Africa. It's difficult to develop a vaccine because there are several known strains of malaria, among other reasons. Good question! Red Willow