Maryland health officials have reported a case of locally acquired malaria in a resident who lives in the D.C. area, who was hospitalized with the mosquito-borne illness and is now recovering.
The person did not recently travel outside the U.S. or to another state reporting any locally acquired malaria cases, according to a news release Friday from the Maryland Department of Health.
“Malaria was once common in the United States, including in Maryland, but we have not seen a case in Maryland that was not related to travel in over 40 years,” said Maryland Department of Health Secretary Laura Herrera Scott, in a statement. “We are taking this very seriously and will work with local and federal health officials to investigate this case.”
Locally acquired case is ‘very rare’
Maryland typically sees about 200 malaria cases each year tied to international travel, according to state health officials. Across the U.S., more than 2,000 cases of malaria are reported each year in the U.S. with the vast majority tied to travel outside the country, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
During a virtual news conference Friday, health officials said the locally acquired malaria case is “very rare,” but that they haven’t seen any other cases linked to this one.
“We’re hoping that we won’t see any ongoing transmission of this,” said Dr. David Blythe, director of the Maryland Department of Health Infectious Disease Epidemiology and Outbreak Response. “And we haven’t seen any indication of that. But we’re on the lookout for that, and we want to give people information about what they can do … if they’re concerned.”
The patient who was hospitalized is now home and recovering, Blythe told reporters. The patient was infected sometime over the last week, and testing was confirmed positive for malaria by the CDC Friday afternoon, Blythe said.
Citing patient confidentiality, officials did not provide any other details about the patient. They said the patient lives in the National Capital Region, which is made up of Charles, Prince George’s, Montgomery and Frederick counties.
Malaria is a mosquito-borne disease caused by a parasite. Symptoms usually appear seven to 30 days after a bite from an infected mosquito and can include high fever, chills, body aches, diarrhea and vomiting.
Mosquito spraying set for Friday evening
The risk to the public for locally acquired mosquito-transmitted malaria remains very low, according to the CDC.
But health officials said Marylanders can take precautions to prevent mosquito bites by wearing insect repellent containing DEET and keeping windows and doors closed or covered with screens.
The Maryland Department of Agriculture said in a news release later Friday afternoon it would be carrying out mosquito control spraying starting Friday evening after 7:30 p.m.
In addition, before you travel abroad, check with your doctors about taking preventive medications that can stop you from getting malaria.
Blythe stressed the importance of preventing mosquito bites. If you develop any symptoms, he said you should check with your health care provider about appropriate next steps, which could include testing for a range of illnesses, including malaria.
“Those are at least a few steps that folks can take in response to this,” he said.
The strain of malaria in the Maryland case is different from one recently circulating in Florida and Texas, health officials said, which prompted a statewide health advisory in Florida earlier this summer.
The CDC said in June the malaria cases across those two states marked the first time there’s been local spread of the disease in the U.S. in 20 years.
If malaria goes untreated, infected people can develop severe complications and die, the AP reported. The largest death toll in recent years has been seen in children in sub-Saharan Africa.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
