Two workers at Frankfurt Airport have died after contracting malaria in a cluster officials describe as “airport malaria”, prompting an investigation into mosquitoes at the German travel hub. The cases matter because malaria is normally associated with travel to areas where it is endemic, while infections apparently linked to an airport raise questions about how infected mosquitoes may have arrived and spread disease locally.

Six airport employees were infected, according to operator Fraport; two died and the other four have recovered. Fraport has advised staff to seek medical attention for symptoms such as fever and chills, installed mosquito traps, and sent captured insects for genetic analysis by the Institute of Tropical Medicine in Antwerp to identify their species and origin.