West Nile virus first detected in the Netherlands | Inland

They become infected because they feed on infected birds. These mosquitoes then spread the virus to other birds and sometimes to humans and other mammals, such as horses or humans.

About 80 percent of people do not have any symptoms after infection, 20 percent have mild symptoms such as fever and flu-like symptoms. “Only a very small proportion (1%) develop a serious illness such as encephalitis or meningitis. With these serious illnesses, the chance of death is 4 to 14%. In people aged 70 or older, this can rise to 15 to 29% ”, according to the RIVM.

According to the RIVM, the virus is not transmitted from humans to humans ‘under normal circumstances’, only through blood transplantation, for example.

Bird migration

The West Nile virus has spread over many parts of the world in recent decades, including Southeastern and Central Europe and Germany.

The warbler is a breeding bird. Warblers arrive in April and leave for Africa in late summer. Because the warbler was tested positive in the summer, it is very likely, according to the RIVM, that this sparrow contracted the virus in the Netherlands. The same bird was also caught in the spring and tested negative.

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