Four people in Sarasota have fallen ill with malaria, and the Florida Department of Health has issued a statewide mosquito-borne illness alert, the department said this week.
The U.S. Centers for Disease Control also has issued an alert after the Florida cases, and one case in Texas, are the first instances of locally transmitted malaria in the U.S. since 2003.
According to Yahoo News, The four people in Sarasota who were ill after being bitten by infectious mosquitoes have all recovered. All four patients were infected with P. vivax malaria. According to state health officials, it is less fatal than other species.
Malaria symptoms include headaches, nausea, vomiting, sweating, fever and chills. Anyone experiencing these symptoms should seek medical help within 24 hours of symptoms, the state advised.
The health department is urging all residents across the state to take precautions while outdoors by using bug spray, avoiding mosquito-infested areas, and wearing long pants and shirts whenever possible, especially at sunrise and evening when mosquitoes are most active.
Malaria can only be spread by mosquitoes, not other people. Generally when new cases are reported in the U.S., they are in people who have traveled outside the country. But these five cases were locally transmitted.
To limit the risk of transmission, the health departments in Sarasota and Manatee counties will continue working with local partners and county mosquito control to conduct aerial and ground spraying.
The CDC issued an alert after one malaria case also was confirmed in Cameron County, Texas, which includes the city of Brownsville near the Mexican border. There is no evidence to suggest the cases in the two states are related, the CDC said.
The U.S. has not seen locally transmitted malaria cases since an outbreak in Palm Beach County in 2003, when there were eight cases.
