The West Nile virus has claimed the lives of two people this summer in Greece and infected ten others. An infected woman passed away on Monday morning in Serres, northern Greece. She was diagnosed with the virus a week ago.
The elderly woman was the second fatality caused by the disease that is transmitted through mosquito bites.
On July 30, an infected man passed away.
According to official data by Greek health authorities, 9 of the infected people have developed symptoms that have affected their central nervous system with encephalitis and/or meningities and/or acute paralysis.
One of the infected only has milder symptoms.
The infections have been recorded in the Regional Units of Xanthi, Karditsa, Kavala, Serres, Pieria, and Eastern Attica.
Health experts are considering as possible the increase of West Nile virus infections, as every year since 2010. The disease massively appeared when spraying against mosquitoes was halted or significantly decreased due to public expenditure cuts because of the first bailout agreement.
According to the results of a sero-epidemiological study conducted in 2010, in each case of West Nile virus infection with CNS infection corresponds to about 140 people infected with the virus (with mild symptoms or asymptomatic).
How the virus is transmitted
The West Nile virus is transmitted mainly through the bite of infected “common” mosquitoes. The main reservoir of the virus in nature is mainly wild birds, from which mosquitoes are infected. Human do not infect each other and they do not further transmit the virus to other mosquitoes.
