Florida Reports Seventh Malaria Case – Eighth in US Outbreak

An eighth case has been recorded in America’s ongoing malaria outbreak.

The Florida Department of Health reported a locally acquired case of the parasitic disease in  Sarasota County, which runs along the west coast of Florida, on Tuesday. Officials became aware of the case between July 9 and 15. It is the seventh case in Sarasota and the eighth in this outbreak – Cameron County, in south Texas, recorded a case last month, too.

This outbreak has sounded alarms for U.S. officials. The deadly disease has been eradicated in America for a half-century. While cases emerge each year, they are usually travel related, meaning people contracted the virus abroad and came to the U.S. carrying it.

In these cases, however, Americans with no recent international travel history are coming down with malaria. This means the parasite is being spread domestically.

Rhoel Dinglasan, M.D., an infectious disease expert at Florida State University, told The Messenger last month that malaria was likely carried into Sarasota County by a tourist. The person was likely suffering a mild or asymptomatic case, meaning they could be unaware they were a carrier. When a mosquito bites that person, the insect will then become infected, and have the ability to pass the disease on to others.

These are the first domestic borne cases of malaria since 2003, when eight cases were reported in nearby Palm Beach County.

Florida officials have previously reported that patients in the initial six cases received treatment and were in recovery from the disease. The status of the seventh patient in the Sunshine State has not been revealed.