Flu-like symptoms
Infection through mosquito bites – insects also transmit West Nile virus in Germany
The West Nile virus is not spread by mosquitoes in all parts of Germany. However, Bavaria and the East are considered hot spots.
© R. Sturm / Picture Alliance
The West Nile virus originally appeared in warmer regions of the world. But lately mosquitoes have also been transmitting the pathogen in Germany. Not all regions are equally affected.
Mosquitoes are now spreading a virus in Germany that has not been around here for very long: the east of the Federal Republic, along with Bavaria, is a hot spot for the spread of the West Nile virus, which has only recently appeared in humans in this country, through native mosquitoes. That said Doreen Werner, biologist at the Leibniz Center for Agricultural Landscape Research (Zalf) in Müncheberg (Märkisch-Oderland), the German Press Agency. “Why, we don’t know yet.”
Thuringia, Saxony-Anhalt, Saxony and Brandenburg are affected. Scientists at the Friedrich Loeffler Institute (FLI) had already identified house mosquitoes as carriers of the West Nile virus, which originally occurs primarily in warmer regions of the world.
West Nile Virus survives better the warmer it is
The virus can overwinter in mosquitoes. “The warmer it gets, the easier it is for the pathogens to develop,” explains Werner. Some infected people then suffer from flu-like symptoms. Severe courses are rare, but can be fatal.
The researcher has also observed that there is a circulation of viruses with a view to climate change. “Climate change means that the pathogens in the mosquitoes can multiply better. However, the central linchpin is increasing globalization,” estimates Werner. According to the Robert Koch Institute (RKI), cases in humans have been registered in Germany since 2019. It is to be expected that the pathogen will continue to establish itself in Germany.
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