Officials urge calm after malaria outbreak kills two staff at Frankfurt airport
Mosquito traps are set up at Germany’s biggest airport and doctors are asked to look out for symptoms of disease
TL;DR
- Two workers at Frankfurt airport died from malaria tropica.
- Four other airport workers were infected but have been treated and are out of danger.
- Health officials are investigating the cause, suspecting mosquitoes imported by plane.
- Mosquito traps have been set up at the airport, and an investigation into the transmission is ongoing.
- Airport staff have been sent letters detailing malaria symptoms, and doctors are urged to be vigilant.
- The health department acknowledges the rare occurrence of "airport malaria" and the potential for delayed diagnosis.
- The Robert Koch Institute believes an imported *Anopheles stephensi* mosquito is responsible.
- While higher temperatures increase survival chances for mosquitoes, the risk to Frankfurt's population is considered low.
- A study identified 145 cases of airport and baggage malaria in Europe between 1969 and 2024.
- Germany's last airport malaria outbreak was in Frankfurt in 2023 with one documented case.