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MALARIA OUTBREAK HITS SARASOTA; BE CAREFUL OUT THERE.
Posted on June 27, 2023 4:23 PM by Admin
Categories: General
MALARIA OUTBREAK HITS SARASOTA; BE CAREFUL OUT THERE.
 
MALARIA OUTBREAK HITS SARASOTA; BE CAREFUL OUT THERE. 
 
Four people in Sarasota have recently caught malaria - the first local spread of the disease in 20 years. But they have been treated and recovered from the potentially deadly mosquito-borne illness, according to the Florida Department of Health, which issued a statewide advisory Monday (June 26, 2023).
 
A fifth case was reported last week in Cameron County, Texas, about 1,300 miles from Sarasota County, according to Texas health officials. The person had spent time working outdoors and had not traveled out of the country, said Patch . com.
 
Malaria is a serious and potentially fatal disease transmitted through mosquito bites. About 2,000 U.S. cases of malaria are diagnosed each year — the vast majority occur in travelers coming from countries where malaria commonly spreads.
 
Since 1992, there have been 11 outbreaks involving malaria from mosquitoes in the U.S. The last one occurred in 2003 in Palm Beach County, Florida, where eight cases were reported, Patch . com reported. In Texas, the last locally acquired case occurred in 1994.
 
The most common symptoms of malaria are fever, chills, sweats, headache, body aches, nausea, and vomiting. Symptoms typically start seven to 30 days after infection, Patch . com said.
 
REF: https://patch.com/florida/southtampa/s/ipppa/4-malaria-cases-reported-in-florida-5-total-in-us-officials?utm_source=alert-breakingnews&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=alert