Two workers at Frankfurt Airport in Germany have died after contracting malaria in a rare outbreak.
Six male employees working in different parts of the airport became infected. The cases were first detected in July 2026.
Germany’s Robert Koch Institute believes infected Anopheles mosquitoes may have entered the country aboard an aircraft arriving from a malaria-endemic region.
The mosquitoes may have later bitten workers at the airport.
Health officials are investigating whether one mosquito or several mosquitoes caused the infections.
The first death reportedly occurred in July. Frankfurt health authorities confirmed a second death in August.
The remaining four infected workers are receiving medical treatment.
Authorities have installed mosquito traps around the airport. Any mosquitoes captured will be sent to the Institute of Tropical Medicine in Antwerp, Belgium, for genetic testing.
The tests may help officials identify the mosquito species and determine where it came from.
Health officials are also analysing blood samples from the workers to establish whether their infections came from the same source.
Frankfurt authorities said the risk to residents and airport passengers remains very low.
Malaria does not normally spread directly from one person to another. In most cases, people contract it after being bitten by an infected female Anopheles mosquito.
Symptoms can include fever, chills, headaches, nausea, muscle pain and tiredness. Severe cases can cause organ failure and death when diagnosis and treatment are delayed.
The Robert Koch Institute said malaria can be difficult to identify in Germany because the disease is rare. Doctors may not immediately suspect malaria when a patient has not travelled to a country where it is common.
Germany’s last reported case of airport-linked malaria also occurred in Frankfurt in 2023.
Laboratory investigations into the latest infections are continuing. Authorities have not yet confirmed the exact flight or country from which the mosquitoes arrived.
