Four employees at Frankfurt Airport have contracted malaria after being bitten by a mosquito that arrived aboard an incoming flight, marking the first such infections at the German hub since 2023.
The affected workers, who were involved in baggage handling, are believed to have been infected earlier this week before July 16. The tropical disease was transmitted by a mosquito that traveled as a stowaway on an aircraft, entering Germany through the airport's cargo or passenger operations.
So-called airport malaria occurs when infected mosquitoes from endemic regions hitch rides on planes and bite ground staff or passengers near arrival gates. Between 1969 and 2024, Europe recorded 145 cases of airport and baggage-related malaria, with nine documented in Germany, according to a study cited in local reports.