There have been three recently confirmed cases of malaria identified in individuals who had not recently traveled including 2 in Sarasota and Manatee Counties (on the Suncoast), Florida (confirmed to be P. vivax) and Cameron County, Texas (species not yet confirmed but may also be P. vivax). The first case was reported on 26 May 2023 and was successfully treated. The other is more recent and is now being treated. Information on the Florida cases has been published in ProMED (Archive Number: 20230623.8710719), by the Florida Department of Health (DPH) (https://www.floridahealth.gov/diseases-and-conditions/mosquito-borne-diseases/_documents/alert-sarasota-manatee-6-19-2023.pdf), and the CDC (https://www.cdc.gov/malaria/new_info/2023/malaria_florida.html. The last local transmission of malaria in Florida involved 8 cases of P. vivax in Palm Beach County in 2003. There are competent Anopheles spp. vectors in much of the Southeast and South Central United States. The source of P. vivax in the current Florida outbreak remains unclear.
There is less information available for the patient who acquired malaria in Texas. This individual spent a lot of time working outdoors. Here is some information from the Texas DPH: https://www.dshs.texas.gov/news-alerts/health-advisory-locally-acquired-malaria-case#:~:text=So%20far%2C%20no%20other%20locally,mosquito%20of%20the%20genus%20Anopheles. The last case of local transmission in Texas was 1994.
GeoSentinel sites and affiliate members should consider malaria in the differential diagnosis of febrile travelers returning from Florida and Texas. Sites with pre-travel clinics should advise travelers to these two states to use anti-vector measures, especially at night.
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There have been three recently confirmed cases of malaria identified in individuals who had not recently traveled including 2 in Sarasota and Manatee Counties (on the Suncoast), Florida (confirmed to be P. vivax) and Cameron County, Texas (species not yet confirmed but may also be P. vivax). The first case was reported on 26 May 2023 and was successfully treated. The other is more recent and is now being treated. Information on the Florida cases has been published in ProMED (Archive Number: 20230623.8710719), by the Florida Department of Health (DPH) (https://www.floridahealth.gov/diseases-and-conditions/mosquito-borne-diseases/_documents/alert-sarasota-manatee-6-19-2023.pdf), and the CDC (https://www.cdc.gov/malaria/new_info/2023/malaria_florida.html. The last local transmission of malaria in Florida involved 8 cases of P. vivax in Palm Beach County in 2003. There are competent Anopheles spp. vectors in much of the Southeast and South Central United States. The source of P. vivax in the current Florida outbreak remains unclear.
There is less information available for the patient who acquired malaria in Texas. This individual spent a lot of time working outdoors. Here is some information from the Texas DPH: https://www.dshs.texas.gov/news-alerts/health-advisory-locally-acquired-malaria-case#:~:text=So%20far%2C%20no%20other%20locally,mosquito%20of%20the%20genus%20Anopheles. The last case of local transmission in Texas was 1994.
GeoSentinel sites and affiliate members should consider malaria in the differential diagnosis of febrile travelers returning from Florida and Texas. Sites with pre-travel clinics should advise travelers to these two states to use anti-vector measures, especially at night.