According to a warning issued by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, malaria has returned to the United States.

For the first time since 2003, the CDC has issued a health advisory regarding “locally acquired malaria cases,” which have been reported in Florida and Texas.

The warning stated that approximately 2,000 Americans contracted malaria each year in the past, but only while traveling abroad. In 1951, the CDC reported that malaria was essentially eradicated from the United States.

“There is no evidence to suggest the cases in the two states (Florida and Texas) are related,” the CDC noted in its advisory.

The CDC has issued a health advisory over the spread of malaria cases in two states, marking the first time locally acquired infections of the disease have been detected in the U.S. in 20 years.https://t.co/sdVzKdM8W4

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“In Florida, four cases within close geographic proximity have been identified, and active surveillance for additional cases is ongoing. Mosquito surveillance and control measures have been implemented in the affected area,” the advisory said.

“In Texas, one case has been identified, and surveillance for additional cases, as well as mosquito surveillance and control, are ongoing,” the CDC said.

The last locally acquired mosquito-borne malaria cases occurred in Palm Beach County, Florida in 2003, according to the CDC.

“Malaria is a life-threatening disease caused by parasites that are transmitted to people through the bites of infected female Anopheles mosquitoes. It is preventable and curable. There are 5 parasite species that cause malaria in humans, and 2 of these species — Plasmodium falciparum and Plasmodium vivax — pose the greatest threat,” the World Health Organization posted on its website.

According to the WHO, there were 247 million cases of malaria and 619 thousand fatalities worldwide in 2021.

According to the WHO, approximately 95% of cases and deaths occur in Africa, and 80% of fatalities involve infants under the age of 5.

Sarasota County was the location of the Florida outbreak, according to the Associated Press.

The Florida Department of Health has advised state residents to drain areas of standing water where mosquitoes breed, to use insect repellent, and to wear long-sleeved shirts and trousers around sunrise and sunset, when mosquitoes are most active.

The individual who contracted malaria, according to a Texas advisory, resides in Cameron County. Since 1994, this was the first locally acquired case of malaria, according to the advisory.

More on this story via The Western Journal:

In 2001, the Competitive Enterprise Institute linked the rise in malaria cases then to a ban on the use of the pesticide DDT. CONTINUE READING…