Content Information
A. Isolation and Quarantine Requirements
Minimum Period of Isolation of Patient
No restrictions except for exclusion from blood donation.
Minimum Period of Quarantine of Contacts
No restrictions.
B. Protection of Contacts of a Case
None.
C. Managing Special Situations
Locally Acquired Case
A case of malaria acquired in the United States is possible but such cases are rare. A case acquired in Iowa is even less likely. If it is determined during the course of an investigation that a case does not have a recent travel history to an endemic country, measures such as investigating areas visited by the case to locate the focus of infection and surveillance of other people for illness may be necessary. Contact the Center for Acute Disease Epidemiology at (800) 362-2736.
D. Preventive Measures
International Travel
People traveling to malaria-endemic parts of the world should be notified of their risk of contracting the disease and control measures they can take to protect themselves from mosquitoes. Travelers can take prophylactic antimalarial drugs prescribed by their healthcare provider and use repellents, wear protective clothing and use mosquito nets when rooms are not screened.
Detailed recommendations for preventing malaria are available 24 hours a day from the CDC Malaria Hotline, which can be accessed by telephone at (770) 488-7788, by fax at (888) CDC-FAXX or (888) 232-3299, or CDC’s website.
Travelers and recent immigrants from malaria-endemic regions with symptoms suggestive of malaria should be referred to a healthcare provider for prompt testing and treatment. Failure to treat individuals with malaria could lead to their becoming a local source of malaria transmission to mosquitoes if bitten, then to other people bitten by those mosquitoes. This is unusual, but has occurred in the United States.
Iowa Dept. of Public Health, Reviewed 7/15