According to the city's sanitary service, two Frankfurt airport employees in Germany died of malaria after contracting the infection from a mosquito that arrived on board an aircraft.
Previously, airport representatives reported the death of one employee and stated that six workers had been infected. The Robert Koch Institute (RKI) suggested that the likely cause was an imported mosquito of the genus Anopheles transported by air.
An airport representative specified that the other four infected workers were receiving treatment in the hospital. It was also announced that five other employees were undergoing treatment, and mosquito traps have been installed on the airport grounds.
Mosquitoes caught at the airport will be sent to the Institute of Tropical Medicine in Antwerp, Belgium, for genetic analysis to learn more about the origin of these insects.
Malaria, caused by parasites transmitted through Anopheles mosquitoes, can manifest with symptoms such as nausea, headache, and severe bouts of fever and chills. This disease causes hundreds of thousands of deaths annually, primarily in sub-Saharan African countries.
Despite this, there are treatments available, and patients who are diagnosed early typically recover completely. According to the RKI, the last malaria outbreak linked to an airport in Germany occurred in 2023.
