In the Utrecht region, another five people are infected with the West Nile virus. That appears from Numbers of the European Center for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC). In mid-October it was announced that a first infection had been detected in the Netherlands, in a man who had probably also contracted it near Utrecht.
The virus is found in birds and can be transmitted to humans through mosquitoes, especially in summer. It is not passed from person to person.
Most people who contract the virus (80 percent) do not get sick and most others have only mild symptoms such as fever or flu symptoms. Vulnerable, often elderly people alone can contract encephalitis.
Grasmus
The new infections have been released by the Stop Invasive Exotics Platform. This believes that RIVM should actively disclose the infections. The institute itself does not think this is necessary; in the first case this was reported.
The West Nile virus is mainly found in southern countries in Europe. It is also relatively common in the east of Germany. Up to the beginning of this month, more than 300 infections in humans were known in Europe.
In August, the virus was found for the first time in the Netherlands, in a warbler in a nature reserve near Haarzuilens.
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