A rare outbreak of malaria has killed two employees at Frankfurt Airport, and the total number of cases of the mosquito-borne disease are six, the BBC reports.
German health authorities believe that mosquitoes arrived at Germany’s busiest airport on planes. The outbreak was first detected in July. A spokesman for airport operator Fraport told the BBC that one employee had died of malaria, but health officials later said on the 26th of August that two had died.
Mosquito traps have been set up at airports and the mosquitoes caught will be tested in a laboratory to determine their species and origin. A Fraport spokesman told the BBC that staff have been fully informed and are encouraged to seek medical attention if they develop any symptoms.
The outbreak is being investigated by Frankfurt’s public health department.
The BBC understands that
six male airport workers, who perform different duties in different areas of the airport, have fallen ill,
and blood samples are being analyzed to determine whether the infection was caused by a single mosquito or six separate mosquitoes.
On the 26th of August, Frankfurt’s public health department sent a statement to the media that two people with malaria had died. The statement said that the risk of exposure to malaria for the Frankfurt population was low because the disease is not transmitted from person to person – it is always transmitted by mosquitoes. The results of laboratory tests will not be available for several weeks.
The Robert Koch Institute, the German federal government’s research agency for disease control and public health, previously reported that four workers fell ill between July 4 and 6, and that the mosquitoes were brought in by plane. The institute reported that in Germany, malaria is almost always contracted by travelers who have visited areas where malaria is endemic, and that cases at German airports are very rare. The institute’s epidemiological brochure states that a lack of information about travel history can delay diagnosis, and late detection of the disease increases the risk of a severe course of the disease.
The last time a person with malaria was infected at an airport was in 2023, and that time it also happened in Frankfurt. According to the World Health Organization, malaria is spread by certain species of mosquitoes, and they are found almost exclusively in tropical countries. The infection is preventable and treatable, and is not transmitted between people. Symptoms range from mild to life-threatening.