Another case of rare “localized” malaria, this one in the Washington, D.C. area, has been reported amid a spate of similar infections since May, officials said Friday.
The Maryland Department of Health said in a statement that the unidentified patient had no recent travel history outside the United States. The person has been hospitalized and is said to be recovering.
Dr. David Bryce, director of the Department of Health’s Infectious Diseases Division, said the patient was from the Washington, D.C. area and went to the hospital after experiencing fever and sweats. NBC Washington.
It was the first locally acquired malaria case in Maryland in 40 years, state health secretary Laura Herrera Scott said in a statement.
More than 2,000 malaria cases are reported each year in the United States, almost all of which involve travelers infected abroad.
Malaria, a common mosquito-borne disease in developing countries, was thought to have been virtually eradicated from the United States by 1951.
In June, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported seven localized malaria cases reported in Florida and one in Texas since May.
The CDC said there was no evidence of a link between the Florida cases and the Texas cases. The Maryland patient had no travel history to those states, according to Maryland health officials.
Malaria remains relatively rare in the United States, and treatment almost certainly prevents death, according to the CDC.
Bryce said the Maryland patient may have been infected by a mosquito infected by a traveler.
Herrera Scott said in a statement on Friday that the Department of Health planned to find out the truth about the incident.
“We take this matter very seriously and will work with local and federal health officials to investigate this incident,” she said.
