Third person dies from malaria in cluster near Germany’s Frankfurt Airport

Frankfurt grapples with a rare malaria outbreak tied to air travel, marking three deaths in recent months.

The female Anopheles funestus mosquito is a known vector for malaria, a parasitic disease [US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention via AP]

A third person has died from malaria after a recent cluster of cases linked to Frankfurt Airport, in what German officials have described as an extremely rare air-traffic-related ⁠outbreak of the tropical disease.

In a statement on Thursday, city administration said the person died at Frankfurt hospital and was one of two infected residents living in the Schwanheim district, in the immediate vicinity of the airport.

list 1 of 1 German airport workers die from malaria caught from plane-riding mosquito

The two new malaria cases in the neighbourhood had been reported on Tuesday.

“Both individuals ‌had become infected with the malaria-causing parasite Plasmodium falciparum, even though they had not travelled to a malaria-endemic region and had not worked at the airport,” the statement said.

According to the city’s public health department, the two newly infected people contracted the disease from a mosquito flown into Germany on an aircraft or in luggage.

Six Frankfurt airport workers had contracted malaria tropica , the most dangerous form of the disease, in July, authorities said. Two later died.

Malaria is a potentially life-threatening mosquito-borne disease that is extremely rare in Germany.

The malaria parasite is spread between ⁠humans by some types of mosquitoes, but not through direct human-to-human contact.

Frankfurt Airport operator Fraport said it set up traps to catch ⁠mosquitoes and sent the insects to a laboratory in Antwerp in Belgium in July and August, but ‌results were not available yet.

Health authorities have warned doctors near the airport to consider malaria in patients who come in with a fever.

Airport workers and residents have been urged to seek medical advice in case they display symptoms including fever, chills, headaches, confusion, seizures and breathing difficulties.

An airport spokesperson said local public health authorities had the power ‌in ‌principle to order airlines to disinfect aircraft.

法兰克福正努力应对与航空旅行有关的罕见疟疾疫情，近几个月来已有三人死亡。

雌性冈比亚按蚊是疟疾（一种寄生虫病）的已知传播媒介。[美国疾病控制与预防中心 via AP]

在与法兰克福机场有关的近期一系列疟疾病例中，第三人死于疟疾。德国官员称，这是一起极其罕见的与航空交通相关的疟疾疫情。

市政府周四发表声明称，该患者在法兰克福医院去世，他是居住在机场附近施万海姆区的两名感染居民之一。

列表 1/1：德国机场工作人员死于飞机上蚊子叮咬引起的疟疾

周二报告了附近地区新增的两例疟疾病例。

声明称：“尽管两人都没有去过疟疾流行地区，也没有在机场工作过，但他们都感染了引起疟疾的寄生虫——恶性疟原虫。”

据该市公共卫生部门称，这两名新感染者是通过飞机或行李中飞入德国的蚊子感染了这种疾病。

当局称，7月份法兰克福机场有6名工作人员感染了热带疟疾，这是疟疾中最危险的一种。其中两人后来死亡。

疟疾是一种可能危及生命的蚊媒疾病，但在德国极为罕见。

疟原虫通过某些类型的蚊子在人与人之间传播，但不会通过人与人之间的直接接触传播。

法兰克福机场运营商 Fraport 表示，他们在 7 月和 8 月设置了诱捕蚊子的陷阱，并将这些昆虫送往比利时安特卫普的一家实验室进行检测，但结果尚未公布。

卫生部门已警告机场附近的医生，对于发烧的患者，应考虑疟疾的可能性。

机场工作人员和居民被敦促，如果出现发烧、发冷、头痛、意识混乱、癫痫发作和呼吸困难等症状，应及时就医。

机场发言人表示，地方公共卫生部门原则上有权命令航空公司对飞机进行消毒。