SARASOTA COUNTY, Fla. — Health officials announced another case of locally acquired malaria has been reported in Sarasota County, bringing the total to seven cases.
The recent locally acquired cases are the first in the country in 20 years, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
According to the Department of Health Sarasota and Manatee counties are under a mosquito-borne illness alert, and Polk County is under a mosquito-born illness advisory.
Malaria can't be spread from person to person.
Wade Brennan, manager of Sarasota County Mosquito Management, said the malaria parasite has to incubate in the mosquito first. It's then transmitted to a human, where it incubates before it's transmitted to the next mosquito.
“It's important to take this seriously. We've had local transmission. Multiple people have caught it,” Brennan said previously.
Sarasota County Mosquito Management said all the cases have been in the Desoto Acres and Kensington Park area.
Earlier this month, officials said it would take four to six weeks to kill off mosquitoes with malaria.
Mosquito management in Sarasota said it only detected malaria in three mosquitoes so far, which was more than a month ago.
They're targeting marsh areas to try to kill off immature mosquitoes before they can bite.
“Since the onset of malaria in Sarasota, we've treated over 470 miles by trucks, that's nighttime spray miles, and we've treated over 36,000 acres in this same area as well,” Brennan said.
Officials said previously mosquitoes only travel about a mile, and there's no indication the infected mosquitoes have traveled outside of north Sarasota.
The cases in Sarasota have put other local mosquito management agencies across the area on high alert.
USF researchers have asked for the public's help tracking mosquitoes in the area
