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Getting to know West Nile, a deadly virus recently detected in the Netherlands

KONTAN.CO.ID – AMSTERDAM. Dutch health authorities said on Thursday they had discovered the first infection with West Nile virus that originated in windmills last week.

The patient who contracted the West Nile virus was a man who had not recently been abroad, the Netherlands National Institute of Public Health said in a statement quoted. Reuters.

Transmitted mainly through mosquito bites, West Nile virus can cause fatal neurological disease, although about 80% of those infected never develop symptoms, according to the World Health Organization (WHO).

The National Institute of Public Health estimates that the patient contracted the West Nile virus in the Utrecht region of central Holland, where birds and mosquitoes carrying the virus were found in August and September.

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However, the National Institute of Public Health said the current risk of infection in the Netherlands was minimal as mosquito season was coming to an end. Only, they will propose further steps before next year’s mosquito season.

There is no vaccine for West Nile virus in humans, although there is an antidote for horses. Originating in Africa, the virus has spread to Europe, Asia and North America.

A number of Dutch nationals have been found carrying the West Nile virus before. However, the National Institute of Public Health said they were always infected overseas.

West Nile virus symptoms

The United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) says most people, 8 out of 10, who are infected with the West Nile virus do not show any symptoms.

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About 1 in 5 infected people develop fever and other symptoms, such as headache, body aches, joint pain, vomiting, diarrhea, or a rash.

Most people with West Nile virus recover completely, but fatigue and weakness can last for weeks or months.

Only, according to the CDC, about 1 in 150 infected people develop a severe disease that affects the central nervous system, such as encephalitis (inflammation of the brain) or meningitis (inflammation of the membranes that surround the brain and spinal cord).

Symptoms of severe illness include high fever, headache, stiff neck, fainting, disorientation, coma, tremors, seizures, muscle weakness, vision loss, numbness, and paralysis.

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Can cause death

Severe illness can occur in people of all ages. However, people over 60 years of age are at greater risk.

People with certain medical conditions, such as cancer, diabetes, hypertension, kidney disease, and people who have had an organ transplant, are also at greater risk.

Recovery from severe disease from West Nile virus may take several weeks or months. Some of the effects on the central nervous system may be permanent.

But, the CDC says, about 1 in 10 people who develop severe disease, which affects the central nervous system, die.

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