23 September 2026: Airport malaria Frankfurt (update)

At Frankfurt International Airport (Germany), several people fell ill with airport malaria (or malaria tropica, caused by the parasite Plasmodium falciparum) in 2026.

• In July, 4 airport employees were diagnosed with airport malaria.
• In the following weeks, another 2 employees became ill with malaria.
• In September, 2 people living in the immediate vicinity of the airport were diagnosed with malaria tropica. They do not work at the airport and have not recently been in a country where malaria occurs.
• In total, there are now 8 patients. Two airport employees and 1 local resident have died.

Airport malaria is rare in Europe. The disease is transmitted by infected mosquitoes that accidentally arrive by airplane from countries where malaria is present. Outside the airport area, this form of malaria almost never occurs.