The eight cases of "airport malaria", including three fatalities, that occurred during the summer near Frankfurt airport were triggered by parasites originating in Africa, introduced into Germany by mosquitoes, the city said Wednesday.
“ Genetic analyses suggest that malaria agents originated in West Africa and were likely introduced to Frankfurt by infected mosquitoes.«" explains Professor Peter Tinnemann, director of the Frankfurt health service, in a statement from the city hall.
The term "airport malaria" refers to the particular form of this disease which develops when an Anopheles mosquito infected with a pathogen – in this case Plasmodium falciparum – travels on board an aircraft from an endemic area to a disease-free area and contaminates humans.
Three separate outbreaks
According to the Institute of Tropical Medicine (ITM) in Antwerp, Belgium, which carried out genomic analysis of the eight cases in Frankfurt, the agents responsible come from three different mosquitoes, corresponding to three distinct outbreaks in July, August and September.
Of the eight people, six who had been to the airport fell ill in early July or mid-August, and two died. In September, two people living in a nearby neighborhood also fell ill, one of whom died.
None of the eight people had previously stayed in an endemic area.
Malaria causes hundreds of thousands of deaths each year, mainly in sub-Saharan Africa.
Read alsoTwo million years ago, in Asia, mosquitoes developed a taste for human blood.
Rarity
The last recorded case of "airport malaria" in Germany was in 2023, according to the Robert Koch Institute (RKI), the German public health agency. The rarity of the disease in Germany can delay diagnosis and increase the risk of serious complications.
Plasmodium falciparum type malaria is "completely curable" if detected and treated in time, insists the mayor's office, which has asked that medical and hospital staff in the region be made aware of the suggestive symptoms.
English 
French