Stationed near the Texas-Mexico border as part of the National Guard, Christopher Shingler first noticed a fever, trouble eating and vomiting in May.
Doctors tested the 21-year-old for Covid-19, and the Brazoria County resident was told at a hospital that he likely had a viral infection.
In early June, after symptoms persisted, tests at a different hospital made it official: Shingler had malaria.
The mosquito-borne disease sickens more than 200 million people annually worldwide and kills hundreds of thousands, and Shingler appears to be one of the few people in the US to contract the disease without recent travel.
“I would wake up very early in the morning and start shaking,” Shingler said. A high fever would follow, causing vomiting.
“It was a lot going out of my way to force myself to eat something, as small as I could, which I generally didn’t succeed, or trying to drink water, which, again, I didn’t succeed,” Shingler said.
Shingler is now out of the hospital and no longer nauseated. He said that he lost about 15 pounds.
He was stationed on the Rio Grande in Brownsville for most of May, working mostly nights, and said he first felt sick on May 20.
Shingler doesn’t know how he contracted malaria or from where. He said he has been contacted by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention as officials try to find the source.
“We were being torn apart by mosquitoes, chiggers, you name it, you name it,” Shingler said. “They were tearing us apart the whole time we were there, especially that first night.”
But you don’t know of anyone else in your unit who’s been feeling sick.
The CDC this week said there have been five cases of malaria in the US within the last two months that were purchased locally, meaning they were not tied to international travel.
The five, four in Florida and one in Texas, are the first locally contracted malaria cases in the US in 20 years. The CDC issued warnings but said the risk across the country remains extremely low.
Malaria cases in the US are most commonly found among people who have traveled outside of the country.
The disease is most common in the African region, according to the World Health Organization. In 2021, there were an estimated 247 million cases worldwide, with around 619,000 deaths.
Malaria is not transmitted from person to person, like a virus. It is caused by a parasite inside a mosquito, and infections usually occur when people are bitten by females. Anopheles mosquitoes, According to the WHO. five kinds of plasmodium parasite can cause it, but two pose the biggest threat to people.
All five patients in the US have received treatment and are recovering, according to the CDC.
The health agency urged people to protect yourself against mosquitoes with things like long-sleeved clothing and pants, and insect repellent. He also says to get rid of standing water where mosquitoes lay their eggs and take other measures to control the insects.
Shingler said he did not expect to contract malaria. He urged people to use insect repellent if they are working where there are mosquitoes.
“I didn’t fully understand the impact this had until I was reading the news and I saw article after article after article that said, ‘Hey, first local case of malaria in Texas in 20 years,’ he said. “I was like, ‘Wow, that’s really a little crazy.'”
“I don’t think anyone even thought that this was something that could happen,” he said. “At the end of the day, I think it was pure coincidence that he did.”
