The Maryland Department of Health on Friday confirmed the first locally acquired malaria case in more than 40 years. The patient, who lives near Washington, D.C., was hospitalized and is recovering.
The case is the ninth reported in the country this summer. In north Sarasota County, seven people were treated for the disease, as was one person in south Texas. All have recovered.
However, the Maryland case involves the parasite Plasmodium falciparum, which can cause more severe illness than the P. vivax strain found in Florida and Texas, officials said.
The person did not travel recently outside of the country or to Florida or Texas, officials said.
Malaria is a mosquito-borne illness. However, nearly all the 2,000-plus cases reported annually in the United States are acquired by travelers overseas.
