Two employees at Frankfurt Airport in Germany have died of malaria – and four more employees are being treated in hospital.

They are said to have been infected by a mosquito that came aboard an airplane.

The data comes from Frankfurt health authority. According to them, six employees at the city's airport – one of Europe's largest and busiest – have been infected with malaria.

Two of the infected have now died, reports the AFP news agency.

The other four are being treated in hospital.

Unusual disease

Several media outlets are reporting that the airport employees are believed to have been infected by one or more mosquitoes that arrived at the airport via an incoming flight. Malaria is uncommon in Germany and according to the country's public health authority, the Robert Koch Institute (RKI), this can be a disadvantage, as it risks contributing to the time it takes to make the correct diagnosis.

The airport has now placed mosquito traps. The mosquitoes that are caught will be taken to the Institute of Tropical Medicine in Antwerp, Belgium, where they will be analyzed.

Over parasites

Malaria is a disease spread by mosquitoes that transmit parasites to humans. The disease is widespread in tropical and subtropical parts of the world, and affects mainly children under five years of age in sub-Saharan Africa. Common symptoms include recurring fever, chills every two or three days, nausea, headache and muscle aches.

According to the German newspaper Picture All six cases in Frankfurt can be traced to Plasmodium falciparum, the most dangerous type of malaria and the one that causes virtually all deaths. However, the city's health authority assesses that the risk of a major outbreak is "very, very low.".

How the mosquito or mosquitoes were transported on board, and where they came from, is unclear.

Source: Expressen.se