A female Anopheles Stephensi mosquito.James Gathany/CDC via AP Three cases of malaria spread locally have been identified in Texas and Florida. The strain, known as P. Vivax, is not considered the deadliest strain of malaria. As the climate warms, mosquito-spread illnesses could become more common in the US. In the Southern states of Florida and Texas, cases of locally-spread malaria have been detected for the first time in around 20 years.Locally transmitted malaria — meaning that the people contracting the disease did not leave the country — has become a rarity in the US as a result of public health measures and the previous widespread use of DDT.But in Texas, the Department of State Health Services confirmed Friday that a person working outdoors in Cameron County, Texas, contracted malaria locally.