Cases of a killer disease from mosquitoes transported on planes are rising in Europe, prompting concern. “Suitcase and airport malaria”, which is also known as Odyssean malaria, has been found in people returning from holiday.
Around 99 percent of 6,131 malaria cases that were reported in the EU/EEA in 2022, were travel-related. Odyssean malaria refers to cases that come from the bite of an infected mosquito transported by aircraft, luggage, or parcel from an area where malaria has been found.
While malaria was eradicated in western Europe around 50 years ago locally acquired infections are still detected. These include infections that are transmitted by a local mosquito after it has bitten an infected returning traveller, induced cases related to other means of transmission such as mother-to-child transmission, and Odyssean malaria.
The NHS says that if malaria is not diagnosed and treated quickly, you can die from it. It takes just one bite from an infected mosquito to become ill.
According to the health body, malaria can be “hard to spot”, but symptoms include:
- A high temperature, sweats and chills
- Headaches and feeling confused
- Feeling very tired and sleepy (especially in children)
- Feeling and being sick, tummy pain and diarrhoea
- Loss of appetite
- Muscle pains
- Yellow skin or whites of the eyes
- A sore throat, cough and difficulty breathing.
These symptoms usually appear between seven and 18 days after you’ve been bitten by an infected mosquito. “But sometimes you may not have symptoms for months after travel, and rarely years,” the NHS adds.
People in certain European countries may also be more likely to contract malaria. A systematic review of studies from 1969 to January 2024, revealed that out of 145 cases described from nine European countries, 105 were classified as airport malaria, 32 as luggage malaria, and eight as either type of malaria.
The majority of these were reported in France, Belgium and Germany, with many of them residing or working near an international airport. This review also showed that malaria cases have been rising in recent years with one-third of cases reported over the last five years – even during the Covid pandemic.
A separate analysis of surveillance and case investigation data showed that there were 117 locally acquired malaria cases reported in France between 1995 to 2022. Half of the people affected were born in a country in Africa, where malaria is common, and the other half were born in France.
It comes as some experts are warning malaria cases will become more common in parts of the world previously unaffected due to climate change, as temperatures rise. To lower your risk of contracting malaria the NHS recommends getting advice from a GP, nurse, pharmacist or travel clinic before you go to a country where malaria is common.
“It’s best to do this at least four to six weeks before you travel, but you can still get advice at the last minute if you need to,” the health body says. “You may be prescribed antimalarial tablets to reduce the risk of getting malaria and told how you can prevent mosquito bites.”
Other tips to stay safe include:
- Take any antimalarial medicine you’re prescribed – you usually need to start taking it a few days or weeks before you go, until a few weeks after you get back
- Use insect repellent on your skin – make sure it’s 50 percent DEET-based
- Sleep under mosquito nets treated with insecticide
- Wear long-sleeved clothing and trousers to cover your arms and legs in the evening, when mosquitoes are most active.
If you’ve travelled to a country where malaria is found and have malaria symptoms, get an urgent GP appointment or call NHS 111.