Maryland authorities disclosed a new case of locally acquired malaria on Aug. 19, making the state the third in the country to report a case in recent months.
The person tested positive for malaria despite not recently traveling outside the United States or to a state that has reported malaria cases, according to the Maryland Department of Health.
The person was hospitalized and “is now recovering,” officials said in a statement. The person lives in Maryland.
The agency didn’t disclose the age or sex of the person nor more specific information about where he or she lives.
“To protect patient confidentiality, we are not sharing any further patient information,” a Maryland Department of Health spokesperson told The Epoch Times via email.
The agency is also declining to say whether there are any suspected additional cases.
“That is the only confirmed case,” the spokesperson said.
Texas and Florida have recently reported locally acquired malaria cases, which differ from cases in which people contract malaria while traveling overseas.
Before the new cases, no locally acquired cases had been detected in the United States since 2003.
“Malaria was once common in the United States, including in Maryland, but we have not seen a case in Maryland that was not related to travel in over 40 years,” Maryland Department of Health Secretary Laura Herrera Scott said in a statement. “We are taking this very seriously and will work with local and federal health officials to investigate this case.”
Symptoms
More than 2,000 cases of malaria are reported in the United States each year, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. About 200 of those are in Maryland.
Malaria is often caused when people are bitten by mosquitoes that have been infected by certain kinds of parasites.
Malaria can also spread through procedures such as organ transplants because the parasite is found in an infected person’s red blood cells.
Symptoms usually start seven to 30 days after becoming infected. Symptoms include fever, sweating, chills, headache, and nausea.
Testing can confirm a malaria case.
