Two residents of Frankfurt who live near the city's airport have been diagnosed with malaria, according to reports from several German news outlets. The cases were confirmed by the local health authority and involve people living in the Frankfurt-Schwanheim district, hessenschau.de reports.
DIE ZEIT reports that both patients are residents of the area surrounding Frankfurt Airport. According to n-tv.de, the infections were acquired outside the airport itself, a detail that has left investigators puzzled about how the two people became infected.
The health department's findings were first reported by hessenschau.de, while Spiegel and FAZ also covered the diagnoses. All of the outlets describe the cases as involving people who live in the vicinity of the airport, one of Europe's busiest aviation hubs.
Malaria is typically transmitted through the bite of an infected mosquito and is most commonly associated with travel to tropical and subtropical regions. The reports do not specify how or where the two individuals were exposed, and no further details about their condition have been released.
The fact that the infections occurred outside the airport setting has raised questions among health officials, according to n-tv.de, which described the cases as presenting a puzzle.
What remains unclear is whether the two cases are connected and whether authorities will identify a common source of exposure. Further statements from the Frankfurt health office are expected as the investigation continues.