Malaria among members of the U.S. Armed Forces, 2013-2022.

Abstract

Malaria infection remains a potential health threat to U.S. service members located in or near endemic areas due to duty assignment, participation in contingency operations, or personal travel. In 2022, a total of 30 active and reserve component service members were diagnosed with or reported to have malaria, a 42.9% increase from the 21 cases identified in 2021. Over half of the malaria cases in 2022 were caused by Plasmodium falciparum (53.3%; n=16) and one-sixth (16.7%; n=5) were attributed to P vivax. The remaining 9 cases were associated with other or unspecified types of malaria. Malaria cases were diagnosed or reported from 19 different medical facilities-15 in the U.S. and 1 each from Germany, Africa, South Korea, and Japan. Of the 28 cases with a known location of diagnosis, 9 (32.1%) were reported from or diagnosed outside the U.S.