Two new cases of malaria were reported in Florida last week, officials said, bringing the total number of locally-transmitted infections in the United States to seven.
The Florida Department of Health said the two cases were reported in Sarasota County and represent the fifth and sixth cases in the state. One other malaria case was previously confirmed in Texas.
Late last month, the United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) announced a health advisory warning the latest cases represent the first time the disease has spread locally within the country since 2003.
The alert called on health professionals to be on the lookout for patients with malaria symptoms, which include fever, chills, headache, nausea, vomiting and fatigue, and to diagnose those individuals and administer drugs to treat malaria within 24 hours.
Malaria is a serious and potentially fatal disease transmitted through the bite of a female tropical mosquito bite. In rare cases, it can also be spread from a mother to fetus, through blood transfusion or organ transplantation or unsafe needle-sharing practices.
Symptoms typically begin 10 days to four weeks after infection, though manifestations of the disease can begin as early as seven days and as late as one year after a mosquito bite. If not treated quickly, malaria can progress to a life-threatening disease, triggering seizures, acute respiratory distress syndrome and coma.
Around 240 million malaria cases occur every year, nearly all of which occur in Africa. Most U.S.-based cases occur following travel from countries with active malaria transmission, causing around 200 cases and five to 10 deaths annually.
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