A worker at Frankfurt Airport in Germany has died of malaria in a rare outbreak believed to have been caused by infected mosquitoes brought into the country on an aircraft.

Five other airport workers have also contracted the disease and are receiving medical treatment, according to the BBC.

The airport operator, Fraport, confirmed the death on Wednesday. “Sadly, we must confirm that one employee has died as a result of the infection,” a Fraport spokesperson told the BBC.

The outbreak is being investigated by Frankfurt’s Public Health Department, with officials trying to establish how the workers became infected.

The BBC reported that the six infected workers are men who work in different areas and perform different jobs at the airport. None is known to have travelled to a country where malaria is common.

German health authorities believe the infections may have been caused by mosquitoes brought into Germany on an aircraft. Mosquito traps have now been installed at the airport, while captured mosquitoes are being analysed to determine their species and origin.

Rare outbreak

The cases are described as “airport malaria”, a rare form of transmission that can occur when an infected mosquito is transported on an aircraft or in luggage and later bites people at or near an airport.

Germany’s Robert Koch Institute (RKI), the country’s federal public health and disease control agency, said the first four workers became ill between 4 and 6 July.

The institute said malaria cases in Germany exclusively involve people who were infected while travelling to malaria-endemic areas, making transmission at a German airport unusual.

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The last documented case of airport malaria at Frankfurt Airport was in 2023, the RKI said.

Frankfurt’s public health authorities have said the risk to the general population remains very low because malaria is not transmitted directly from person to person. It is spread through the bites of infected mosquitoes.

Malaria remains a major public health concern in Nigeria, although recent data show signs of progress.

In July, Malaria Consortium reported that malaria prevalence in Nigeria had fallen from 42 per cent in 2010 to 15.2 per cent in 2025.

Despite the decline, the organisation said Nigeria continues to carry one of the world’s heaviest malaria burdens, with children under five and pregnant women disproportionately affected.

Malaria is caused by parasites transmitted through the bites of infected mosquitoes. It is preventable and curable, but can become severe or fatal when diagnosis and treatment are delayed.

The Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, in Ogun State has urged residents to remain vigilant after casting their votes and follow the electoral process through to the collation centres to safeguard their ballots.

The party said voters should not leave polling units immediately after voting but should remain to ensure that their votes are properly counted and transmitted.

The party made the appeal on Wednesday during the official flag-off of its campaigns for the 2027 presidential and National Assembly elections.

Speaking at the flag-off, the Chairman of the Campaign Committee and governorship candidate of the party in the state, Ladi Adebutu, assured residents that better days were ahead.

Adebutu expressed optimism that Nigerians would once again experience improved living conditions.

“I know the happy days are coming again in January. By the grace of God, the leader in Nigeria has asked me to say one prayer. The prayer is that we shall banish poverty,” he said.

He urged PDP supporters to remain committed to the party and ensure that their votes count during the elections, calling on them to resist intimidation and stand firmly by their choices at the polls.

Similarly, his running mate, Lateefat Sowunmi-Kolapo, urged residents not to be intimidated during the exercise, stressing that elections are about the people and their right to choose their leaders.

“After voting, don’t say that you are done and leave. Cast your vote and stay at the polling unit. Stand by your vote and follow the process to the collation centre.

“Do not be intimidated. The vote belongs to the people, so let’s come out and exercise our franchise. May God give us victory. Vote for the PDP from top to bottom,” she stated.

Also, the party’s senatorial candidate, Iyabo Obasanjo, said her desire to restore the senatorial district to its pride of place necessitated her return to the PDP after a brief sojourn in the All Progressives Congress, APC.

Obasanjo, daughter of former President Olusegun Obasanjo, noted that having previously represented the senatorial district from 2007 to 2011, she was shocked that the gains recorded during her tenure had been eroded by successive representatives.

“My desire to take our senatorial district back to where it was when I represented it is the reason I returned to the PDP to take up the challenge of restoring our lost glory,” she said.

DAILY POST reports that thousands of residents and party supporters stormed the streets of the three federal constituencies in Ogun Central Senatorial District.

They pledged their unwavering support for the PDP candidates and assured them of their votes in January.

“We will vote for the PDP and stand by our votes,” many of them said.