A third person has died of malaria in Frankfurt, Germany, amid a cluster of locally acquired cases linked to the city’s airport, health authorities said on Thursday.
The latest victim lived near the Schwanheim district, which borders Frankfurt Airport. Two airport workers had previously died from the disease in July and August.
Authorities also reported two new malaria cases in Schwanheim on Tuesday. The infected individuals live in separate households and had not travelled to malaria-endemic regions or worked at the airport.
Frankfurt health authorities said the two latest infections were linked to an infected Anopheles mosquito that is believed to have arrived in Germany by plane.
Malaria is a potentially fatal disease transmitted by mosquitoes. It causes hundreds of thousands of deaths each year, predominantly in sub-Saharan Africa, but locally acquired infections are uncommon in Germany.
Germany’s Robert Koch Institute said malaria mosquitoes can travel between five and 10 kilometres. The latest infections were recorded about five kilometres from Frankfurt Airport.
Health authorities expressed condolences to the families of those who died and are continuing to investigate the cluster.
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