Florida county reports its seventh case of locally contracted malaria

SARASOTA, Fla. -- A southwest Florida county has documented a seventh case of malaria, state authorities said.

The Florida Department of Health reported a new locally acquired case of malaria in Sarasota County during the week of July 9 to 15. That's in addition to five cases last month and one case in May.

Sarasota County, and Manatee County directly to the north, have been under a mosquito-borne illness alert for nearly a month. The area is located on the Gulf of Mexico, just south of Tampa Bay.

Sarasota County officials have been using aircraft, trucks and ground crews to apply insecticide to the area where the malaria cases were reported.