SAN ANTONIO — Malaria cases in Texas and Florida are the fist U.S. spread since 2003, according to the Center for Disease Prevention and Control (CDC).
This week, the CDC warned of five cases, including one in Cameron County.
It comes one week after the Metropolitan Health District reported a mosquito pool tested positive for the West Nile virus on the southwest side of San Antonio.
“I don’t think people should be panicking type of concern,” said Bexar County Entomologist Molly Keck. “But I think that it serves as a really good reminder that we have these species of mosquitoes that transmit – what we call – these more tropical diseases.”
Dr. Stephen Ramirez with Stone Oak Family Practice says Malaria and West Nile have similar symptoms, such as fever, chills, headaches, muscle aches and nausea. However, he says Malaria can be more severe.
“We don’t have an actual vaccine for Malaria that we are using consistently here in the United States,” said Dr. Ramirez. “We have pill treatments, and it depends on if we are trying to prevent that or if someone actually has it. It’s very rare for us to get an endemic case [of Malaria], which means a case that’s started in the United States. Malaria has essentially been declared as non-endemic to the United States since 1951.”
The West Nile virus is much more common, according to Keck. She says it pops up almost every year in Bexar County.
“You reduce your risk by not getting bit by mosquitoes,” said Keck. “You do that by either avoiding them or trying to manage them around your property. We have multiple species of mosquitoes; we have over 86 in Texas. That doesn’t mean every species is able to transmit diseases. So, the two we are most concerned about are the ankle biters and ones that feed on you during early dawn and dusk. The mosquitos have to lay their eggs in water. So, look around for toys that are holding water, wheelbarrows, clogged gutters. If it’s a bottle cap turned upside down, that can breed one mosquito.”
The CDC recommends using an insect repellent that has one of the following ingredients:
- DEET
- Picaridin
- IR3535
- Oil of lemon eucalyptus (OLE)
- Para-menthane-diol (PMD)
- 2-undecanone