Two workers at Frankfurt Airport have died after contracting malaria in an outbreak believed to have originated from an infected mosquito transported to Germany aboard an aircraft.
Airport officials initially reported one death among six employees who were infected. The death toll increased to two on Wednesday.
The four remaining workers are receiving treatment in hospital, according to an airport spokesperson. Authorities have also installed mosquito traps across the airport as part of efforts to investigate and contain the outbreak.
Germany’s Robert Koch Institute (RKI) has identified an imported Anopheles mosquito as the most likely source of the infections. Investigators believe the mosquito may have entered Germany on an aircraft arriving at Frankfurt Airport.
The Frankfurt Public Health Department is leading the investigation into the outbreak.
