Two Frankfurt Airport workers die of malaria as ‘mosquito arrives on plane’
German health authorities are investigating an unusual malaria outbreak at Frankfurt Airport after six airport employees were infected and two later died from the disease.
The cases have raised concerns because none of the affected workers had recently travelled to malaria-endemic countries, leading investigators to suspect that infected mosquitoes arrived in Germany aboard international flights.
The outbreak first came to light in July when airport staff began falling ill. According to public health officials, the infected workers were employed in different roles and worked in separate areas of the airport, suggesting the infections may have originated from mosquitoes transported into the country rather than local transmission.
Frankfurt Airport operator Fraport confirmed that one employee had died from the infection, while health authorities later disclosed that two of the six affected workers had lost their lives.
Officials are now carrying out extensive investigations to determine how the outbreak occurred. Mosquito traps have been deployed across the airport, and captured insects will undergo laboratory analysis to identify their species and possible origin.
Authorities are also examining blood samples from the infected workers to establish whether the cases were linked to a single infected mosquito or multiple mosquitoes arriving on different flights.
The Frankfurt Public Health Department has sought to reassure residents, stressing that malaria cannot be spread directly from person to person and that the risk to the wider public remains extremely low.
Malaria is caused by parasites transmitted through the bites of infected mosquitoes and is most common in tropical and subtropical regions. While the disease is both preventable and treatable, delayed diagnosis can lead to severe illness and death.
Germany records malaria cases almost exclusively among travellers returning from countries where the disease is widespread. Cases linked to infected mosquitoes arriving through airports are considered exceptionally rare.
The Robert Koch Institute, Germany’s public health agency, noted that Frankfurt Airport last recorded a case of so-called “airport malaria” in 2023.
Investigators expect laboratory results that could help identify the source of the outbreak to take several weeks.
Source: BBC
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