The virus manifested itself in the neuroinvasive form
It has been detected in Italy first indigenous case of the 2024 of West Nile Virus WNV in humans.
According to the Istituto Superiore della Sanità (ISS), it has manifested itself in the province of Modena in form neuroinvasive in a 77-year-old person, although in less than 1% of cases the disease can develop in this way, that is, as meningitisencephalitis or flaccid paralysis.
The patient is currently hospitalized in Neurology at the Ramazzini Hospital in Carpi.
West Nile in Italy: the data
Also this year, in the month of April, the Lombardy Region highlighted a case imported from Oman.
There are three the province of our country in which West Nile is circulating: Milano, Chieti and, in native form, Modena.
No circulation of the virus has currently been detected in veterinary surveillance of horses, resident and wild birds. According to the bulletin of the Istituto Superiore della Sanità ISS lo last year have been confirmed 332 cases in humans, the first of which on July 13, 2023, and 27 deaths.
Symptoms
West Nile is a neurodegenerative disease caused by the bite of nocturnal mosquitoes (not tiger mosquitoes), which since 2008 have carried the virus, first isolated in 1937 in Uganda, in the West Nile district from which it takes its name.
Although the80% of infected people you show no symptomsin cases where these are present they are mild flu-like fever, headache, muscle-joint painrarely accompanied by change in color and appearance of the skin, irritation or swelling.
Il Risk of neuroinvasive disease increases with age and is highest among adults over 60.
How to protect yourself
There is no vaccine for West Nile fever.
For this reason, the ISS recommends protect yourself from bites and try to prevent mosquitoes from breeding easily.
So it’s appropriate use repellents and wear trousers and long-sleeved shirts when you are outdoors, especially outdoorsalba and to the sunset. And still install the mosquito nets at the windows, to empty frequently flower vases or other containers with standing water, Change the water in the animals’ bowls frequently and keep paddling pools empty and upright when not in use.
