SARASOTA COUNTY, Fla. — Officials with the Florida Department of Health have confirmed two more cases of malaria in Sarasota County.
This now brings the total number of people who have gotten sick from the disease locally acquired from mosquitoes carrying the malaria parasite to six cases. The rise in the number of Malaria disease cases has continued to raise concerns among neighbors and local officials.
Leaders with the Sarasota Mosquito Management Services said they continue to concentrate treatment in the area of Kensington Park and De Soto acres. That's where they found the six confirmed malaria cases, as well as several mosquitoes with malaria parasites.
"We are going to be sending people out to do extra trapping," Wade Brennan said.
Brennan is the manager of the Sarasota County Mosquito Management Services and has been leading the team that is tackling the origin of this outbreak.
"We're going to specify and set up specific traps to increase our chances of getting the vectors that may be present," he said.
Mosquito control agencies throughout the area are on high alert and doubling up on spraying efforts.
"As soon as we get word that there's any kind of malaria in the area or possible malaria situation, we're doing those truck aerial treatments, and then we're going into all the habitats that those mosquitoes might be resting at and treating those as well," Brennan explained.
Concerned neighbors too are on alert and many have changed their routines in light of the health risks.
"I definitely put a mosquito spray on them and I have it in my bag and usually that's not something that I would do every day and then if there is like one sign of mosquitoes then we will just leave. It's just not worth the risk," Kearstin Merrill, a mom in Sarasota, said.
County officials are urging homeowners and communities to do their part to help prevent mosquitoes from finding a place to breed.
"We live in an area where our H.O.A. does spray for mosquitoes and things like that, but we went out and we got some stronger mosquito spray and I feel like it's more worth the risk to spray those chemicals on the kids and then wash them at the end of the day," Merrill said.
"Going out at dusk or dawn is when the mosquitoes are out there the most, and take care of your area making sure there's no standing water and do the best you can to prevent this and keep your family safe," Dawn Beiler, another Sarasota resident, said.
In addition to treatments, mosquito control staff are also testing Anopheles mosquitoes found in the area of concern and other places where they discover breeding grounds.
"They're probably doing the best they can because nobody wants to see it get any worse than it already is," Beiler said. "But they also need the people to help do what they can do to help prevent the mosquitoes from breeding and populating."
Health officials advise that if you begin to feel symptoms of malaria, like fever, chills, headaches, and other flu-like symptoms, you should contact your doctor immediately. This latest outbreak of malaria is the first local spread in 20 years. In 2003, eight cases were reported in Palm Beach County and all originated within the local mosquito population.