Fever of obscure origin in a patient living near, or working at, an airport

malaria

• Three people on a single Beirut to Brazil flight were infected with malaria, probably during a mid-flight stop in the Ivory Coast, when the airplane doors were opened, presumably letting in an infected mosquito. [101]
• In Europe there were 20 cases of airport malaria reported in 29 years. [102]
• So far we have talked only about an insect that flies aboard an aircraft in one country, then flies out after the airplane lands. This would seem to put only persons in or near airports at risk from the insect, because insect flying ranges are limited. Here, however, is a potentially different mechanism for trans-national insect transportation: the insect stows away in luggage. With this mechanism, the potential range of an insect can extend well past airport environs. [103]
• In yet another case of malaria from Italy, a 62 year old woman with no significant travel history, who lived in a rural area far from any international airport, contracted malaria. Extensive investigation concluded that indigenous anopheline mosquitoes had transmitted Plasmodium vivax to her from the blood of a vivax-infected girl from India who lived about 500 meters away. [104]
• Beware of tire dumps. The standing water that invariably accumulates in tires is an excellent breeding ground for mosquitoes. [110]
• Other infectious hazards of airline flight include: tuberculosis, meningitis, and hemorrhagic fevers such as lassa and ebola. Of course, the notion of airline-spread-pandemics has been transmitted so widely in lay circles that it is no longer a zebra. [111]