Anopheles
Genus of mosquitoes, the only carriers of human Malaria.
Anopheles mosquitoes sit at the centre of Frankfurt's airport Malaria cluster: eight people caught Malaria there by 18 September 2026 and three died, yet the city had trapped no Anopheles near the airport by 29 September.
Last refreshed: 4 October 2026 · Appears in 1 active topic
Timeline for Anopheles
Mentioned in: Malaria at Frankfurt Airport kills three
Pandemics and BiosecurityBackground
Only mosquitoes of the genus Anopheles carry human Malaria. A female Anopheles picks up the parasite when it bites an infected person and passes it on at a later bite. Plasmodium falciparum, the deadliest Malaria parasite, spreads this way.
Airport Malaria happens when an infected Anopheles arrives on a plane and bites someone near the airfield. Such cases seldom occur: a 2024 review counted 105 airport Malaria cases in Europe between 1969 and 2022, in clusters of up to six. In 2026 eight people with no travel to a Malaria country caught falciparum malaria at or near Frankfurt Airport, and three died.
The Frankfurt cluster turned on the mosquito. The city's health department had trapped no Anopheles near the airport or in the Schwanheim district by 29 September 2026. ECDC thinks infected mosquitoes most likely reached Frankfurt by plane more than once, while leaving open a role for Anopheles living nearby. Germany does not require disinsection, the spraying of arriving aircraft cabins with insecticide.
What is an Anopheles mosquito?
Why are officials trapping Anopheles mosquitoes in Frankfurt?
How did malaria reach Frankfurt Airport?
