Brazil: Goias and Rio de Janeiro States with no current malaria transmission

In March 2015, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) had received an official report of locally-transmitted malaria cases in Goias and Rio de Janeiro States in Brazil. Since then, there have been no other reports of local transmission of malaria in these two states. The last case of locally-transmitted malaria in Goias State was March 4, 2015, and in Rio de Janeiro State was March 13, 2015. None of these cases were in the cities of Brasilia or Rio de Janeiro.

Goias State has not experienced local malaria transmission in recent years, and CDC recommends no malaria preventive measures for travelers to this state. However, the central, mountainous forested areas of Rio de Janeiro State have reported an average of 6 cases of locally-transmitted malaria a year.

CDC recommends that travelers to the central, mountainous forested areas of Rio de Janeiro State use mosquito avoidance measures such as applying an insect repellent, wearing a long sleeved shirt, long pants, and hat when outdoors, and sleeping in an air-conditioned or well-screened area, or under an insecticide treated bednet at night.

See the CDC Malaria website (http://www.cdc.gov/malaria/) for additional health information about malaria and preventing malaria. For general health information for travelers to all areas of the world see the CDC Traveler’s Health website (http://wwwnc.cdc.gov/travel/).

Fig 1: Map of Brazil