Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis is facing pressure amid a growing number of malaria cases in the state, after reports emerged that two public-health roles related to combating the spread of disease have been left vacant for months.
Two more cases of the mosquito-borne disease were detected in Sarasota County, to the south of Tampa, between June 25 and July 1, according to the latest Florida Health Department disease-monitoring report. It brings the total number of cases of the disease that were contracted inside the U.S. this year to six in Florida. The county, along with neighboring Manatee County and Miami-Dade, are now under alerts.
The discovery of the malaria infections marks the first time in two decades that the disease, caused by a parasite, has been locally acquired in the U.S., as opposed to being linked to international travel.
It comes after NBC News reported that Florida's Bureau of Epidemiology, which is tasked with tracking and preventing communicable diseases, had been without a chief since last month. An administrator position for its surveillance program has been vacant since March.
The LinkedIn pages for Clayton Weiss and Thomas Troelstrup, the respective officials, show the former departed in June for the Florida Department of Corrections, while the latter has been working for a private company since March. Replacements for the roles have not been publicly announced by the Bureau of Epidemiology.
Dr. Aileen Marty, a professor in infectious disease at Florida International University, told NBC the roles were "critical public-health functions." Jason Salemi, an associate professor of epidemiology at the University of South Florida, described them as "immensely important positions."
Dr. George C. Benjamin, executive director of the American Public Health Association, said factors including pay and demands of the job may have led to the vacancies, he argued that the political climate in Florida had created an "eroding" of support for public health in the state.
"There has, unfortunately, been recent politicization of the use of vaccines and health services for refugees and other immigrants, which may explain the challenges in filling this vital position," Marty, who advised the then Miami-Dade mayor during the coronavirus pandemic, told NBC.
Newsweek approached the office of the Florida governor and the state's Department of Health via email for comment on Tuesday.
During the pandemic, DeSantis had been the slowest to enact emergency public-health measures that sought to curtail human interaction, with Florida hailed as a "free state" from restrictions by some.
His position appeared to derive from an ideological skepticism towards limiting people's freedoms for health reasons. While Florida ranks among the top five states for total COVID-19 cases, it fares no worse in terms of cases and deaths as a proportion of the population than several other states, The New York Times reported.
Malaria is a treatable disease, but left untreated it can cause life-threatening symptoms including seizures, renal failure and a coma, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
Usual symptoms can include a fever, a headache and chills, as well as nausea, vomiting and diarrhea—they typically occur between 10 days and four weeks after the person is infected.
The CDC first announced five cases of malaria contracted within the country on June 26—four in Florida and one in Texas.
It said that there was "no evidence to suggest" the cases in the two different states were linked, but said that the four cases in Florida were "within close geographic proximity." It expressed concerns over "a potential rise in imported malaria cases" associated with increased international travel in the summer, including to countries were malaria remains prevalent.
The Florida Health Department said that there had been 23 cases of malaria associated with international travel in 2023, with many originating from countries in Africa, as well as central America and the Middle East.
Christopher Shingler, a 21-year-old National Guardsman based on the Texas-Mexico border, identified himself as the other malaria patient in early July.
Correction 07/12/23, 4:37 a.m. ET: This article was updated to refer to malaria as a disease caused by a parasite. An earlier version of this story erroneously referred to it as a virus.
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