First human infection of West Nile virus in the Netherlands

For the first time in the Netherlands someone has become infected with the West Nile virus. That reports the RIVM Thursday. Infected persons had already been found, but those infections had been contracted abroad.

The infection was diagnosed last week in a man who may have contracted the virus from a mosquito bite in the Utrecht region. In August, for was the first to find a Dutch infection. Then it turned out that a warbler in the Utrecht region had the virus.

West Nile virus mainly occurs in birds and is transmitted by mosquitoes that have stung infected birds. People can get sick from the virus, but not spread it. About 20 percent of the cases suffer from mild complaints such as fever and about 1 percent can develop a serious neurological disease, such as encephalitis. Horses can also get sick.

The virus was already found in southeastern Europe and the Mediterranean and has spread to Central Europe, including Germany, in recent years. Further spread to Western Europe was expected according to the RIVM.

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