On the morning of this Wednesday, the health authorities of the United States issued an alert after two new cases of malaria, in less than five months, in the states of Florida and Texas. In total, five cases have been registered, for which they asked the population to remain on alert.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the possibility of contracting malaria in the United States is extremely low, stating that it is common in countries with tropical and jungle climates. Even so, they pointed out that four of these five cases were detected in Florida, where the highest number of infections was eight patients in Palm Beach during 2003.
The health authorities in the United States indicated that the areas in Florida and Texas where the infections have been reported are under surveillance, although all patients have received treatment and are improving. So far nothing indicates that the five cases are related to each other.
Florida health authorities reported that the last four cases were identified in Sarasota County, in the southwest of the state, and that they are four people who did not catch the tropical disease abroad. Malaria is a disease that if not treated in time is potentially fatal, and it is common in Africa, India and South America.
This same week, the Texas Department of Health confirmed a contagion in Cameron County, near the border with Mexico, of a case of local transmission of malaria, a febrile disease produced by a protozoan and transmitted to humans by mosquito bites. anopheles.
The state of Texas has an average of more than 120 cases of malaria per year that have been infected during trips abroad. According to the records, the last case of local contagion occurred in 1994.
With information from EFE
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