Health
RKI: Four West Nile infections recorded in Germany
A mosquito sucks blood from a man’s arm. photo
© Patrick Pleul/zb/dpa
According to RKI data, 17 West Nile infections in people acquired in this country were detected last year. There were also recordings this year. Experts assume that the number of unreported cases is high.
West Nile infections transmitted by domestic mosquitoes have also been recorded in Germany this year. So far, four such infections with the virus have been proven, said the Robert Koch Institute (RKI) with.
Two of those affected were probably infected in Saxony-Anhalt, the other two in Berlin and Thuringia. The RKI does not have any details about the route of infection, said a spokeswoman. However, it can be assumed that people became infected through the bite of an infected local mosquito.
According to RKI data, 17 West Nile infections in people acquired in this country were detected last year, and 4 cases the year before. Since an infection occurs without symptoms in around 80 percent of cases, it is often not even recognized – the number of unreported cases is correspondingly high. According to the RKI, almost 20 percent have mild, non-specific symptoms such as fever or rash. These too often go unnoticed.
Fatal cases usually affect older people
More severe and fatal courses usually affect older people with previous illnesses. Only about one percent of infections lead to such severe neuroinvasive diseases. Since tests and thus reliable evidence are usually only carried out for such cases, if at all, a very high number of annual infections transmitted by domestic mosquitoes can be assumed in Germany.
In 2019, the RKI recorded infections with the West Nile virus, which originally came from Africa, in sick people in Germany for the first time, which were due to such transmission by domestic mosquitoes. Because the pathogen can overwinter in mosquitoes in Germany, experts expect increasing numbers of cases and larger seasonal waves of illness. Such outbreaks have been occurring in southern and southeastern European countries for years.