West Nile: 110 cases and nine deaths

Cases of West Nile virus recorded nationwide by EODY up to 14 August number 110, while the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control reported 105 cases with data up to 13 August. Deaths in Greece this year number nine, a figure equal to the total for the whole of the previous year. According to Theodora Psaltopoulou, professor at the University of Athens, 70% of the cases are in Attica. In the previous week four new outbreak areas were identified, in Imathia, Thessaloniki, Laconia and Piraeus, according to the reports by Ta Nea and The TOC.

West Nile virus is transmitted to humans through the bite of an infected mosquito and is not passed from person to person, with wild birds acting as its natural reservoir. In the great majority of infections no symptoms appear and only in a small proportion does a febrile illness develop, with fever, headache and muscle pain. Involvement of the central nervous system, in forms such as encephalitis and meningitis, affects a small fraction of those infected, with the risk rising significantly at older ages and in people with underlying conditions. There is no vaccine for humans and no specific antiviral treatment.

The element that stands out this year is the geographical concentration. When seven in ten cases are found in Attica, the issue stops being exclusively rural and shifts to the densely populated urban environment, where the mosquito breeding site can be a drain, a rooftop or an abandoned plot. That picture also fits into a European context: the ECDC records 429 cases in nine European Union countries, with Greece second behind Italy. The four new outbreak areas of the previous week show that circulation of the virus is not confined to one region but is spreading towards Northern Greece and the Peloponnese as well.

From here on the data will be updated with EODY’s weekly record, which reflects confirmed cases with a delay of a few days. In terms of prevention, the measures remain constant and mainly individual: insect repellents, screens, clothing that covers the skin in the hours around sunrise and sunset, and the removal of standing water from yards, plant pots and balconies. At local government level, the burden falls on mosquito control programmes at the larval stage, which are planned from the spring. The symptoms that require medical assessment are a high fever combined with severe headache, confusion or muscle weakness, particularly in older people. Developments are recorded on the Health page, and the effects on daily life in the Society section.