An outbreak of West Nile fever has been recorded in Greece, the Russian Foreign Ministry's crisis center reports.
Two people have died from West Nile fever in the Attica region, and 12 more local residents have been hospitalized.
Since the beginning of the summer season in the country 55 cases of the disease were recorded.
Reference: West Nile Fever — an acute transmissible viral disease characterized by fever, serous inflammation of the meninges, systemic damage to the mucous membranes, lymphadenopathy and, less commonly, rash.
The West Nile fever virus was first isolated from the blood of a sick person in 1937 in Uganda. Subsequently, indications of the widespread spread of the disease appeared in Africa and Asia. The disease is most often found in Mediterranean countries.
The causative agent of West Nile fever, a flavivirus of group B of the togavirus family, dies at temperatures above 56°C for 30 minutes.
The virus is transmitted by mosquitoes, ixodid and argas ticks, and the reservoir of infection is birds and rodents. West Nile fever has a distinct seasonality - late summer and autumn. Young people are more likely to get sick. The risk of getting sick is higher for people over 50 years old.
The incubation period ranges from several days to 2–3 weeks. The disease begins acutely with a rapid increase in body temperature to 38–40°C, accompanied by chills. The febrile period lasts on average 5–7 days, although it can be very short — 1–2 days. The disease is characterized by pronounced symptoms of general intoxication: severe, excruciating headache with predominant localization in the forehead and eye sockets, pain in the eyeballs, muscle pain.
In the neuroinfectious form of the disease, edema and swelling of the brain, cerebrovascular accidents may develop. In the development of meningoencephalitis, paresis and paralysis are possible, severe course of the disease with a fatal outcome in rare cases.
Source: trn-news.ru