As anyone who has ever backpacked across South America or Southeast Asia knows, travel to many popular tropical destinations can carry with it risk of catching certain diseases not common in North America.
Prior to their trips, travelers are often advised to get a bouquet of vaccinations against everything from malaria to Hepatitis A and B and Dengue fever.
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While many mistakenly believe that the risk of tropical disease is exclusive to certain high-risk countries, similar climates are also found in certain Southern states.
These States Have Seen the First Local Malaria Cases in Years
On June 26, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention issued a warning about cases of malaria in Florida and Texas. The tropical disease, which is spread by mosquito bites and can cause very high fever and dehydration, was identified in four people in Sarasota and one person in Cameron County along the Mexican border in Texas.
All five were quickly given treatment and are currently recovering while the Center for Disease Control is currently monitoring for new cases. While the instances in Florida and Texas are not believed to be connected, the malaria almost certainly comes from the U.S. — an extremely rare occurrence since the vast majority of American cases come from travelers bringing it from other countries.
"Locally acquired mosquito-borne malaria has not occurred in the United States since 2003 when eight cases of locally acquired P. vivax malaria were identified in Palm Beach County," the health agency said in a statement.
While malaria is most prevalent in parts of Sub-Saharan Africa and Southeast Asia, the tropical climate in the U.S. also allows for its spread — a resort city along Florida's Gulf of Mexico, Sarasota attracts millions of tourists for its white-sand beaches and mangrove forests.
Cameron is the southernmost county in Texas and also sits on the Gulf of Mexico. Risk of malaria is significantly higher in places where its warm enough for disease-carrying Anopheles mosquitoes to survive the entire year.
Risk of Catching Malaria in the U.S. 'Remains Extremely Low'
While health agencies in the two states have been instructed to be on the lookout for cases of malaria, the CDC stresses that "the risk of locally acquired malaria remains extremely low in the United States" so there is nothing residents or travelers need to do beyond regular steps to prevent mosquito bites.
Local counties have also sprayed areas where malaria came from both aerially and from the ground. The CDC used the instance to also issue a warning about imported cases, which are significantly more common in the U.S. and will become more so during the busy summer travel season as Americans come back from faraway countries.
As most malaria symptoms come out one to four weeks after infection, those who return from countries where the disease is prevalent need to carefully monitor symptoms like fever, nausea, chills and vomiting — as they are non-specific, it is easy to confuse them for something less serious but going to the doctor early can both prevent more serious disease and further spread among the population.
"Most imported cases of malaria in the United States are diagnosed during summer and early fall," the CDC said. "In 2023, CDC expects summer international travel among U.S. residents will be increasing to pre-COVID-19 pandemic levels."
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