New Jersey may be dealing with its first case of malaria in more than three decades — and it came from a local mosquito, not one lurking in the tropics, officials said this week.
The malaria-stricken patient lives in Morris County, according to the NJ Department of Health.
The patient has not traveled outside of the U.S., so officials are looking into how he could have acquired the mosquito-borne disease stateside.
“While risk to the general public is low, it’s important to take the necessary precautions to prevent locally acquired malaria in New Jersey,” explained Acting Health Commissioner Jeff Brown. “The most effective ways are to prevent mosquito bites in the first place and to ensure early diagnosis and treatment of malaria in returning travelers.”
The parasitic infection causes fever, chills, headache, muscle aches, fatigue, vomiting and diarrhea.
It can take up to a month after exposure for symptoms to start developing.
The state deals with approximately 100 travel-associated cases of malaria each year. Locally acquired cases typically occur when a mosquito bites a person infected with travel-associated malaria, before biting another person, passing the infection.
The Anopheles species of mosquito, which transmit the disease, are present in the tri-state area, but the risk of locally acquired malaria remains low, officials told The Post.
There have been 31 cases this year to date in New York state, excluding New York City, according to data from the state Health Department. All the cases were contracted elsewhere.
The last case of locally acquired malaria in New York City occurred in 1993.
In 2020, there were only 58 malaria cases due to COVID travel restrictions. Two years ago, 346 cases were reported in NYC, coinciding with a large influx of new immigrant arrivals to the Big Apple.
Malaria can be cured with prescription antimalarial drugs, but it can be life-threatening if not diagnosed and treated quickly.
Most cases of malaria occur in Subsaharan Africa, but can be acquired in parts of Mexico, the Caribbean, Central and South America, Asia, and Oceania.
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