Malaria Is Making a Comeback to the US. Why?

Johns Hopkins Malaria Minute

Malaria returns to the US for the first time in decades. We share what we know so far.

Transcript

Today, another reminder that infectious diseases respect no borders. Malaria, a disease that was once endemic globally, has returned to the US for the first time in two decades. A number of cases have been confirmed in Florida, Texas and, most recently, one in Maryland. Crucially, in each of those cases, the people who got the disease hadn’t traveled to any malaria-endemic regions. The transmission was local. It’s thought that other people carrying the parasites from abroad infected mosquitoes in the US – and that those mosquitoes went on to infect other people. The infections have been P. vivax — a less deadly strain often found in South East Asia--and now P. falciparum — the most common and most deadly species — appearing in Maryland. The risk to the general public is low. But it’s unclear whether this is a random event — or a sign of things to come. Some experts hypothesize that possibly climate change and warming temperatures are making more places more suitable for malaria-carrying mosquitos to thrive.

Source

Maryland Department of Health announces positive case of locally acquired malaria [Maryland Department of Health]

About The Podcast

The Johns Hopkins Malaria Minute podcast is produced by the Johns Hopkins Malaria Research Institute to highlight impactful malaria research and to share it with the global community.