JERUSALEM, Jul 13 (NNN-MA’AN) – With 12 new fatalities confirmed yesterday, Israel has recorded 31 deaths from the West Nile fever, since an outbreak in the country in early May, health authorities said.
The Ministry of Health in a statement reported 49 new infection cases, bringing the country’s tallies to 405, close to the annual record high of 425 cases in 2000.
The ministry attributed the high morbidity to warmer and more humid weather in the region, favourable to mosquitoes, a host that transmits the virus from birds through bites to humans.
The Israeli news website, Ynet, reported that most of the infected are the elderly, aged 70 and above, while children were also diagnosed with the virus.
Most human infections show no, to mild cold symptoms, but occasionally, some people develop severe illnesses, affecting the central nervous system.
Earlier this week, Israel’s chief veterinary officer, Tamir Goshen, told the news website that, 159 birds were found infected with the virus, in the last two months, compared to only three infections among birds, in the entire 2023.– NNN-MA’AN
