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West Nile virus arrived in Germany: already four cases in 2020

2020-09-04T08:51:17.186Z


In 2019, an infection with the tropical West Nile virus was detected for the first time in Germany. And in 2020 people will also be infected - from domestic mosquitoes.


In 2019, an infection with the tropical West Nile virus was detected for the first time in Germany.

And in 2020 people will also be infected - from domestic mosquitoes.

Human infections with the West Nile virus in Germany 2020

Update from September 4th,

2020: Four people were infected with West Nile fever in Germany in summer 2020, according to the Robert Koch Institute (RKI) as the federal authority for infectious diseases and non-communicable diseases in the current Epidemiological Bulletin.

In all patients, the infection was noticed during tests as part of a blood or plasma donation, as reported by Bayerischer Rundfunk.

The RKI advises doctors with brain inflammation of unknown cause or an accumulation of fever patients in summer and late summer to have a test for the West Nile virus.

You can find out more about the consequences of an infection with the West Nile virus below in the text.

How can I protect myself from West Nile fever

?

Proper mosquito repellent is important.

Article from October 29, 2019

: In 2018, a snowy owl in the Wittenberg Zoo in Saxony-Anhalt died of the West Nile virus - the first case of such an infection in Germany.

People have already been treated in Germany, but they had contracted the virus abroad.

But the carriers of West Nile fever - primarily mosquitoes infected with the virus - are now also spreading in Germany.

The Robert Koch Institute is currently reporting the first case of the disease in which someone was infected by an infected mosquito in Germany.

West Nile Virus: That is why we must protect ourselves better in the future

The man from Saxony was treated in hospital for an encephalitis caused by the West Nile virus (WNV) -

and is now healthy again

.

The National Reference Center for Tropical Infectious Pathogens at the Bernhard Nocht Institute for Tropical Medicine demonstrated an infection with WNV.

And that will probably not be the only case.

"The risk of further cases is currently decreasing, as the number of mosquitoes is falling in autumn. However, we must expect more West Nile virus infections in the coming summers," says Lothar H. Wieler, President of the Robert Koch Institute ( RKI), in a press release: "

Fortunately, the majority of cases are mild

."

Video: First illness with the West Nile virus

Meningitis can lead to death

The West Nile virus was discovered in Africa and is spreading across the globe as a result of climate change and tourism, among other things.

The virus also reaches northern regions, primarily through migratory birds and mosquitoes.

According to the RKI, 80 percent of infections in humans are symptom-free

, while the remaining 20 percent have a fever, rash or other complaints that are often not directly attributable to a specific disease.

In less than one percent of those affected, an infection with the West Nile virus leads to meningitis (meningitis) or inflammation of the brain (encephalitis).

Especially in older or chronically ill people, these manifestations can have 

life-threatening consequences

.

More on the subject of meningitis

:

Mallorca vacation: Anyone who eats the following "delicacy" risks infection with dangerous parasites

.

West Nile virus risk areas: Bavaria is one of them

There are no vaccines against the virus yet, infections can only be prevented with mosquito repellent.

Since 2018, the RKI has been recommending doctors in affected regions - including Bavaria, Saxony, Saxony-Anhalt, Brandenburg, Berlin, Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania and Hamburg - to have patients with brain infections of unknown origin examined for West Nile viruses.

The West Nile virus could also be the cause of fever with and without a rash

, as the Robert Koch Institute warns.

More sources: www.br.de

Also read

:

Study reveals: This is why you are constantly being bitten by mosquitoes - and others are not at all

.

jg

Bloodthirsty pests: Little mosquito customer

Bloodthirsty pests: Little mosquito customer

Source: merkur

All life articles on 2020-09-04

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