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By: The opinion Posted Jun 25, 2023, 12:41 pm EDT
Texas health authorities confirmed a case of local transmission of malariawhich is in addition to two others discovered in Florida in the last 30 days.
The Texas Department of State Health Services (DSHS) reported Friday in a statement from a case of malaria diagnosed in a resident of this state “who has not traveled outside the country or state”.
According to DSHS, this resident was working outdoors in Cameron County, South Texas and near the Mexican borderand now state authorities are investigating in coordination with local health agencies to determine if other people may have been exposed.
“Until now, no other cases of malaria have been identified purchased locally in Texas,” the state agency said.
The Texas case joins two discoveries on the west coast of Florida, in Manatee and Sarasota counties.
Texas has an average of more than 120 cases of malaria each year that have been acquired during trips abroad. According to local media, in that state, the last case of local contagion occurred in 1994.
In Florida, the largest outbreak in its recent history occurred in Palm Beach County (east coast) in 2003, when eight cases were recorded.
According to the health authorities of that state, in 2012, 65 cases of imported malaria were reported to Florida, that is, associated with travel outside the country or immigration.
Cases of malaria, a disease common in Africa and India, but not in the United States, prompted an alert by the Florida health authorities, which They asked the population to take precautions and avoid areas with a strong presence of mosquitoes.
Malaria is a febrile disease produced by a protozoan, and transmitted to humans by the bite of anopheles mosquitoes.
The health authorities of both Florida counties recalled that malaria is not transmitted from person to person, but protective measures must be takensuch as covering yourself and draining standing water, to avoid being exposed to mosquito bites and possible infection.
Malaria is one of the biggest public health problems in the world. It infects approximately 219 million people each year, with an estimated 660,000 deaths, mostly children in Africa.
With information from EFE
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