Frankfurt am Main's public health authority has issued a warning after the city recorded two further cases of malaria, bringing the total number of people who have fallen ill since July to six. Malaria is a tropical disease transmitted by mosquitoes. Two of the cases in Frankfurt have proved fatal.
The new cases involve people from the Schwanheim district, close to the airport, and the public health authority is investigating whether there is a link. Airport employees have been particularly affected by recent infections. It is thought that mosquitoes from malaria-affected regions occasionally travel on flight routes, survive in Frankfurt and then transmit the disease when they bite.
