Maryland detected a locally acquired case of malaria, the first in over 40 years, health officials said. Health officials maintain there is an "extremely low" risk of locally contracting malaria in the US. Someone in Maryland contracted malaria, and officials are scratching their heads as they grapple with the state's first local case of the disease in four decades. The Maryland Department of Health confirmed the case on Friday, saying the individual lives in the Washington, D.C., region and had not recently traveled internationally – a common flag for malaria cases. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention previously reported similar, locally acquired malaria cases in Florida and Texas, calling the risk of catching the disease locally "extremely low in the United States."

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Persons: Laura Herrera Scott, Nilesh Kalyanaraman Organizations: Health, Morning, Maryland Department of Health, D.C, of Heath, Public Health Services, Disease Control, CDC Locations: Maryland, Florida and Texas, Washington, United States, Florida, Texas