‘Locally Acquired’ Malaria Outbreak in Florida Infects 6 People in Sarasota County

An Asian tiger mosquito that is known to carry diseases like malaria. The National Institutes of Health (NIH) is dedicating resources to getting rid of malaria around the world. Jack Leonard/Getty Images

Florida was the epicenter of an outbreak of malaria, the first time the tropical disease was contracted in the state in 20 years.

Six cases of “locally acquired” malaria were reported in southwest Florida in May and June, according to the Florida Department of Health (FDOH).

All six cases were localized in Sarasota County—halfway between Tampa and Ft. Myers.

The health department said that all six individuals contracted the same strain of malaria and that they were treated and have recovered.

Adult mosquitoes are seen through a fluorescence microscope. Jacquelyn Martin/AP Photo/File

There have been no new malaria cases reported in Florida as of July 8, according to FDOH’s Florida Abrovirus Surveillance report, as well as no new cases of any tracked mosquito-borne illnesses such as West Nile, Dengue, and Zika Fever.

However, a health advisory for mosquito-borne illnesses was put into effect in Florida, and both FDOH and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) have published information on the disease and how families can protect themselves.

In 2021, UNICEF says there were 247 million malaria cases around the world, and of those 619,000 were fatal.

Mosquitoes Are the Culprits

The best way to avoid malaria and all other mosquito-borne illnesses, according to Florida’s health department, is to build a defense against mosquitoes themselves.

“Mosquitoes are the known culprits of carrying this stuff,” FDOH Press Secretary James Williams told The Epoch Times.

“We want to arm people with the knowledge to take care of it if they need to. But in the same way that we’re being proactive, we’re charging Floridians and visitors to also be proactive.”

While malaria was reportedly “eradicated” from the Sunshine State in the late 1940s, FDOH states that it is still home to 14 species of mosquitoes that have the ability to carry and transmit the parasite.

The latest malaria outbreak in Florida involved eight cases that were reported in Palm Beach County in 2003.

Due to a regularly-occurring introduction of malaria to the state from immigrants and travelers from “endemic areas,” the Department of Health states that “local transmission is still possible.”

In 2012, 65 travel and immigration-related malaria cases were reported, according to FDOH.

An aircraft approaches to land at Miami International Airport in Miami, Florida, on January 2, 2023. Marco Bello/Reuters

“If you start feeling feverish and you start having flu-like symptoms, and there’s any chance that you could have been bitten by a mosquito, go to go see a doctor and just rule it out,” he said. “It’s very easy to treat and cure, but like anything, we want to catch it sooner rather than later.”

It is common for infected individuals to not experience symptoms until 10 days after being bitten by a mosquito, according to the CDC, but it is also possible for indicators not to appear until 30 days—or even a full year—afterward.

Milder symptoms are fever, chills, nausea, body aches, and headaches. But in “severe malaria,” symptoms include seizures, mental confusion, kidney failure, acute respiratory distress syndrome, and coma.

Pregnant women and young children are at greater risk of contracting “severe malaria” and it can be transmitted from the mother to the unborn baby before or during delivery.

“At the end of the day, we don’t know where the malaria originated from,” Mr. Williams said of the six cases in Sarasota.

This thin film blood smear photomicrograph reveals the presence of two Plasmodium malariae schizonts, which cause malaria. Dr. Mae Melvin/CDC

“We’re doing everything in our power to not only kill the mosquitoes—which we’re doing a very, very, very good job of [doing]—but also just arming Floridians and visitors with the proper [protective] tools and resources.”

He said people should be applying high-factor mosquito repellant for people older than 2 months, wearing long sleeves and pants when going outside, as well as taking part in what FDOH calls “drain and cover.”

“We want residents to be draining any standing water that they have on their premises, said Mr. Williams. ”Whether that’s from a dog bowl, or a bucket, or a kid pool, or anything like that. Try to drain that water two or three times a week at a minimum. Because that’s just that’s a breeding ground for mosquitoes.”

FDOH states that just a bottle cap’s worth of water is enough for mosquitoes to multiply.

Florida is a subtropical climate with regularly stormy summers that often produce puddles, mud patches, and other forms of standing water behind.

FDOH published a mosquito-control flyer that offers the best means of resistance both inside and outside.

The type of malaria-transmitting mosquitos that are native to Florida “generally don’t fly more than 1.2 miles from their larval habitat,” according to the CDC.

More on Malaria

“Let’s be very clear. It’s not a respiratory disease,” Mr. Williams said. “If someone tested positive for malaria—whether that'd be in Sarasota County, or in Kenya, and they come to Orlando—you and I, or your friend, are not going to contract malaria simply by being in the same room.

“This is not the flu. This is not a cold. It’s not COVID. This is a blood-borne parasite.”

Florida’s health department conducts constant statewide surveillance of mosquito-borne diseases, releasing weekly reports, which can be read here.