Two people dead, four others sickened with mosquito-borne virus after insect is transported by airplane
A second airport worker in Germany has died of malaria following an outbreak among employees, health officials have announced.
Six workers at the Frankfurt Airport contracted the mosquito-borne infection in early July, most likely after a mosquito traveled to Germany on an airplane, the airport’s operator, Fraport, said this week.
Four of the six patients have since recovered, according to Fraport spokesman Andreas Schopf. It is unclear when the two deaths occurred.
Malaria is typically found in Sub-Saharan Africa and Southeast Asia, rarely appearing in Europe or the US.
Officials said the outbreak in Frankfurt Airport is due to airport malaria, which occurs when people become infected by mosquitoes carried by planes from regions where the disease is prevalent.
It’s unclear from where the mosquito or mosquitoes that spread the infection originated.
The Frankfurt Public Health Office said there is no risk to the general public or to people working in or traveling from the airport.
Malaria is not spread through human contact but rather from bites from Anopheles mosquitoes.
Two employees at Frankfurt Airport in Germany (pictured above) have died from malaria, health officials announced
Schopf said mosquito traps have been placed at the airport and mosquitoes caught in them will be analyzed by the Institute of Tropical Medicine in Belgium to determine their species and origin.
‘While we are still investigating the origin of the mosquitoes found in our traps, it is most likely that they were transported to Frankfurt by airplane,’ he said, as reported by The New York Times.
‘We remain in regular contact with the responsible authorities to ensure that any further measures can be coordinated and implemented at an early stage.’
Health officials said five of the infected people first showed symptoms early last month, and the sixth case was reported in mid-August.
No other details about the sickened or dead individuals were released.
Malaria is caused by a parasite that infects Anopheles mosquitoes, which are found worldwide but most commonly detected across Africa, Southeast Asia, Central America and South America.
When the infected mosquito bites a human, the malaria parasite travels through its saliva into a person’s bloodstream. It immediately infects and destroys oxygen-carrying red blood cells and the liver.
The disease can also pass from person to person through pregnancy, blood transfusions and sharing needles.
Infected mosquitoes can continue to transmit the virus to multiple people.
Mild symptoms include fever, chills, headache, muscle aches, tiredness, nausea, vomiting and diarrhea, according to the CDC.
About one to two percent of patients progress to severe disease, which causes seizures, confusion and multi-organ failure. The malaria parasite can also cause dangerous amounts of acid to build up in the bloodstream, a phenomenon known as acidosis.
Acidosis disrupts normal cellular function, leading to labored breathing that can result in death.
Malaria is spread by the Anopheles mosquito (pictured above), which infects humans with a parasite
This is the third time that malaria has been detected in the Frankfurt Airport. In 2019, two male airport workers suffered severe cases. Three employees were also diagnosed in 2022.
Locally transmitted malaria was officially eliminated in the US in 1951 through widespread insect control and prompt treatment with medications designed to kill the parasite. Germany eliminated malaria in 1964.
The CDC reports about 2,000 US cases of malaria every year, most often in people who have traveled to endemic regions without taking antimalarial pills before their trip.
Locally acquired malaria was last detected in the US in 2023, when 10 cases were reported in Florida, Texas, Maryland and Arkansas from mosquitoes that bit people returning from travel abroad.
Worldwide, malaria affects nearly 300 million people and kills 600,000 each year.
