Eight more West Nile infections bring Dutch total to 72
The National Institute for Public Health and the Environment (RIVM) says the virus was confirmed in eight more people last week, and ten infected people have died this year.
The West Nile virus was confirmed in eight more people in the Netherlands over the past week, the RIVM reports. That brings the number of confirmed infections this year to 72.
The RIVM knows of no new deaths among infected people. Ten people who had the virus have died this year.
Zuid-Holland has had the most infections, 41. The other cases were in Utrecht, Noord-Holland, Noord-Brabant, Gelderland and Overijssel. In most cases the virus was found after the person was admitted to hospital with symptoms.
The virus comes from birds and can be passed to people by mosquitoes. Most infected people barely notice it, but some patients develop flu-like or more serious symptoms.
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RIVM (Rijksinstituut voor Volksgezondheid en Milieu)
The National Institute for Public Health and the Environment, the government institute that monitors infectious diseases, runs the national vaccination programmes and measures air quality and nitrogen deposition.