Yeah, ’cause what’s another pandemic. Public health officials in Florida and Texas confirmed a total of five cases of malaria in their states that were spread by mosquitoes over the last two months, the Associated Press reports.
The four Florida and single Texas cases mark the first time in two decades officials found malaria cases spread by mosquito bites in the US. All five are receiving treatment and are expected to survive. About 2,000 malaria cases are treated in the United States annually, with virtually all patients contracting the disease overseas.
Unsurprisingly to people who understand science, warmer temperatures around the world provide better breeding grounds for viruses and the creatures, like mosquitoes, that carry them. There are treatments for malaria–and even a new vaccine–that can reduce the deadliness of the disease if people take them. No word if DeSantis or Abbott will be the first to ship the virus to a Blue state.