West Nile virus cases beginning to spread
An alert for West Nile virus has now been raised in 19 Greek municipalities after an increase in cases across more areas of the country during the last week.
The National Public Health Organization said that from the start of this year’s surveillance period until Tuesday afternoon, 21 domestic instances of viral infection had been detected in Greece, with 10 occurring in the previous week.
There have been three deaths of patients infected with the virus. In the most recent week, one death was reported. All three patients were aged over 78. On Tuesday, six individuals remained hospitalized, of whom two were in ICUs. One in every four cases identified in Greece was in Karditsa in central Greece (five individuals).
Eleven municipalities have recorded cases, compared to eight up to a week ago, while a further eight are classified as high-risk as they combine factors such as proximity to areas where cases have been recorded, historical epidemiological data, available entomological data or surveillance data on livestock in the area.
Cases have been recorded in the municipalities of Nestos (Kavala); Karditsa, Mouzaki, Palamas, Sofadon (Karditsa); Larissa; Ambelokipi-Menemeni, Delta (Thessaloniki); Veria, Pella and Iraklia (Serres). The municipalities of Skydra (Pella), Alexandria and Naoussa (Imathia), Kileler (Larissa), Avdira and Topiros (Xanthi), and Pavlos Melas and Kordelio-Evosmos (Thessaloniki) are also high-risk for exposure to the virus.
