2023-08-20 23:00:30
A Maryland resident living in the Washington, DC area contracted malaria despite not having recently traveled outside the country or to states where the disease has been detected, state health authorities said Friday.
The “locally acquired” malaria case is the first of its kind in the state in decades, officials said.
“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 more than 40 years,” Department of Health Secretary Laura Herrera said in a statement. Scott. “We are taking this very seriously and will work with local and federal health authorities to investigate this case.”
The patient is a DC-area resident who presented to a hospital with fever and sweating, said Dr. David Blythe, director of the health department’s Office of Infectious Disease Epidemiology and Outbreak Response, on a call with journalists.
The patient was hospitalized last week for a short time and has been released, Blythe said. His age, sex and exact location were not released.
The patient may have contracted malaria by being bitten by a mosquito that previously bit someone who had traveled, Blythe explained.
“One of the ways this could happen is if a person who has traveled somewhere where malaria is more common gets the infection and comes back to Maryland, a mosquito bites that person and then bites someone else who hasn’t traveled.” , said.
NBC News reported in July that eight cases of locally acquired malaria had been detected in the US since May, seven of them in Florida and one in Texas. Those cases were the first acquired in the US in 20 years.
The strain of malaria found in the Maryland patient is different from the strain found in the Florida and Texas patients, Blythe said.
Maryland health authorities announced the malaria case a day after authorities reported that mosquitoes had tested positive for West Nile virus at two different locations in Laurel.
WHAT IS MALARIA?
Originally eliminated from the US in the early 2000s, malaria is a mosquito-borne disease caused by a parasite. The disease cannot be transmitted from person to person and it takes about two weeks from the time a person is infected with the parasite to cause any symptoms.
Some of the most common symptoms of malaria are fever, fatigue, headaches, and muscle aches. If left untreated, the disease can quickly become deadly.
Although locally acquired malaria has not been reported in the US for two decades, local physicians such as Miriam Laufer, an infectious disease physician and malaria researcher at the University of Maryland, continue to regularly treat the disease as many travelers return of international travel carrying the parasite.
“There are a few thousand cases of malaria in the United States every year. I take care of them at the hospital here. And they are all usually travelers who have been to areas where there is malaria transmission,” Laufer explains.
Each year, about 2,000 people receive treatment for malaria in the United States. Most contract the disease by traveling to subtropical countries where mosquito-borne diseases are more widespread. Malaria kills about 620,000 people worldwide each year.
Here are some tips from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) on how to treat mosquito bites.
HOW TO AVOID GETTING MALARIA
The risk of contracting mosquito-borne malaria remains very low, according to state authorities. To avoid mosquito bites or contracting malaria while traveling, here is what the state recommends:
” Use insect repellent containing DEET on exposed skin. If weather and heat permit, wear loose-fitting, long-sleeved clothing Keep windows and doors closed or covered with screens to prevent mosquitoes from entering the home. Empty the standing water at least once a week to prevent mosquitoes from laying eggs Repair broken screens on windows, doors, porches, and patios Learn about health risks and precautions against malaria and other diseases before you travel your destination If you plan to travel abroad, check with your doctor for current recommendations on prescription medicines to prevent malaria If you have traveled to an area where malaria transmission is more common and develop fever, chills, headache, body aches and fatigue, seek urgent medical attention and inform your healthcare provider that you have travelled.
Although the risk of contracting malaria is low, anyone with a fever without a clear explanation can see a doctor, Blythe says.
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