A third person has died from malaria at a hospital in Frankfurt after a recent cluster linked by German officials to air traffic near Frankfurt Airport. The person was one of two newly infected residents of Schwanheim, a district immediately beside the airport, bringing the reported death toll to three.
What officials say about the infections
Frankfurt’s public health department said the two Schwanheim residents were likely infected by a mosquito transported into Germany on an aircraft or in luggage. Authorities described the event as an extremely rare air-traffic-related outbreak. Read the context: DR Congo’s Ebola outbreak passes the country’s previous death toll.
The infections involved Plasmodium falciparum, which causes malaria tropica, described by authorities as the most dangerous form of the disease. Malaria is spread by some mosquitoes between people and is not transmitted through direct human-to-human contact.
Key points
- The two Schwanheim residents had not travelled to a malaria-endemic region or worked at the airport.
- Both were infected with Plasmodium falciparum, the parasite that causes malaria tropica.
- Six airport workers were infected in July; two of them later died.
- Fraport said mosquito traps were deployed in July and August, with laboratory results from Antwerp still pending.
Advice for people near the airport
Health authorities have warned doctors in the area to consider malaria when patients arrive with a fever. Airport workers and residents have been urged to seek medical advice if they develop symptoms including fever, chills, headache, confusion, seizures or breathing difficulties.
Fraport said it set mosquito traps and sent captured insects to a laboratory in Antwerp, Belgium. The results were not yet available. A company spokesperson said local public health authorities could, in principle, order airlines to disinfect aircraft.
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