Malaria reported in Costa Rica
According to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), a case of malaria has been reported in a US traveller who visited the Osa Peninsula in the Puntarenas Province in Costa Rica, an area where malaria is not typically found.
The CDC is advising travellers to the Osa Peninsula to obtain medicine to prevent malaria before travel and take precautions to prevent mosquito bites during travel. These include using insect repellent when outside, wearing long sleeves and trousers when outside and sleeping in an air-conditioned or well-screened room or under an insecticide-treated bed net.
It has also stated that, although malaria is rarely found in Costa Rica, travellers should be aware that other areas of the country have had outbreaks in the past and should take precautions to avoid mosquito bites in Matina Canton in Limón Province, Sarapiquí Canton in Heredia Province, and Pital District in San Carlos Canton in Alajuela Province, where malaria was reported in 2017.