Rare US Mosquito-Borne Malaria Raises Alarm As 3rd State Reports Case

Health offi­cials are on high alert after a res­i­dent of Mary­land con­tract­ed malar­ia from an infect­ed mos­qui­to bite, mark­ing the third state to report the extreme­ly rare domes­tic case of the disease.

The CDC issued an urgent notice fol­low­ing the Mary­land case, which comes after Flori­da and Texas also iden­ti­fied scat­tered infec­tions believed to be trans­mit­ted local­ly by mosquitoes.

While malar­ia was once wide­spread in the US, home­grown cas­es have been vir­tu­al­ly nonex­is­tent for decades. But the back-to-back inci­dents — the first in over 20 years — have prompt­ed concerns.

The Mary­land patient has recov­ered after hos­pi­tal­iza­tion, but offi­cials say they are scru­ti­niz­ing the sit­u­a­tion close­ly. Most of the approx­i­mate­ly 2,000 malar­ia cas­es annu­al­ly in the US come from inter­na­tion­al travel.

Though the risk remains low cur­rent­ly, con­trol­ling mos­qui­to pop­u­la­tions is para­mount since the insects can spread oth­er dan­ger­ous dis­eases as well.

Symp­toms like fever and fatigue may appear with­in a week or up to a year after an infec­tious bite. The CDC advis­es using EPA-approved insect repel­lants, elim­i­nat­ing stand­ing water, and tak­ing pre­cau­tions to lim­it exposure.

With malar­ia essen­tial­ly erad­i­cat­ed in the US, these anom­alous cas­es have put health agen­cies on alert. But prompt action and pub­lic aware­ness can help con­tain the threat before it escalates.

The clus­ter of cas­es is a trou­bling sign, but author­i­ties are respond­ing with vig­i­lance. Still, the sit­u­a­tion serves as a sober­ing reminder that this life-threat­en­ing dis­ease must not be allowed to take root and spread on home soil again after so many decades.