WA: Pierce County investigates possible locally acquired malaria case

[Shiloh]

Source: https://mynorthwest.com/local/pierce-county-malaria-case/4119421

Pierce County investigates possible locally acquired malaria case
Aug 6, 2025, 1:45 PM

​BY AARON GRANILLO

KIRO Newsradio Anchor

The Tacoma-Pierce County Health Department (TPCHD) is investigating what could be the first-known case of malaria acquired in Washington.

Health officials said an East Pierce County woman, who has not recently traveled, was diagnosed with the mosquito-borne illness on August 2. She is currently receiving treatment and being monitored.​..

 

[Shiloh]

Source: https://www.adn.com/nation-world/20...-prompts-further-study-of-regions-mosquitoes/

Washington state malaria case prompts further study of region’s mosquitoes
By Elise Takahama, The Seattle Times
Updated: 32 minutes ago Published: 32 minutes ago​

SEATTLE — Local health officials are still investigating how a Pierce County woman who hadn’t traveled recently might have contracted malaria — but however it happened, the situation involved an “unusual sequence of events.”

The case is rare for a few reasons, said Dr. James Miller, health officer of the Tacoma-Pierce County Health Department, which announced the news Wednesday. It’s Washington state’s first locally acquired case, meaning the woman was most likely bitten here by a malaria-infected mosquito, which would have gotten malaria after biting someone else with the disease, who had traveled recently and perhaps contracted malaria abroad.

If that were the case, it would be a “very unusual sequence of events” Miller said, “which is why we’re doing this more extensive investigation for this case than we would typically for a travel-acquired malaria case.”

The mosquito-borne disease does not spread from person to person, nor does it spread between mosquitoes, so risk to the general public is low, he said.​..