In Italy, a new person infected with Western Nile fever has succumbed to the virus, bringing the number of victims to seven. This situation at Swiss borders also worries health authorities in Switzerland and in particular in Ticino.
If the Latium region, around Rome, is the main center of the epidemic – with three deaths and 44 cases of proven infection – other regions, in Lombardy, in the rest of the Pô plain and in the Piedmont are also affected. What sharpen the vigilance of the Federal Office for Public Health (OFSP) and the health authorities in Ticino, especially along the Italian-Swiss border.
The infectious agent of Western Nile fever is transmitted by mosquito bite or by bite of ticks carrying the virus. “Given that the vectors (mosquitoes) and the main hosts (wild birds) are present in Switzerland, our country could also be affected by the Western Nile fever”, writes the OFSP on His page dedicated to illness.
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The virus can contaminate birds and mammals, including horses, dogs and cats. But this disease is also a zoonosis, that is to say that it can be transmitted from animals to humans. On the other hand, it is not transmitted from human to human.
Virus generally benign
The virus is generally benign. In most dogs and birds, Western Nile fever evolves asymptomatic. This is also the case for humans. In 80% of cases, the disease does not lead to any visible symptoms, while about 20% of those affected only feel light symptoms.
In rare cases, the virus can however lead to serious, even fatal complications. In less than 1% of infected people, the Western Nile Virus attacks the nervous system, causing encephalitis and/or meningitis, specifies the OFSP.
He therefore recommends travelers going to areas at risk of protecting himself against mosquito bites. Western Nile fever is an epizootic – a disease brutally affecting a large number of animals – to monitor, indicates the OFSP, which recalls that veterinarians and laboratories must announce cases of epizootics and suspicious symptoms to the cantonal veterinarian.
Nicole della Stone/Edel
