Two more cases of West Nile fever

The National Reference Laboratory for tick-borne infections at the National Centre for Infectious and Parasitic Diseases confirmed two cases of West Nile fever in the laboratory, the Ministry of Health reported on August 15.

One of the cases is a 48 year old Bulgarian citizen from Pazardzhik region (Southern Bulgaria), a construction worker who has developed clinical symptoms of the disease in Cyprus, where he lived in the past two months. Upon arrival back in Bulgaria, he had fever, dizziness and fatigue and was immediately hospitalised at the hospital in Pazardzhik.

The other patient is a 41 year old man, from Sofia, who was hospitalised with neurological symptoms at a hospital in Sofia. An epidemiological study of the cases was carried out and the mechanisms and place of infection were clarified.

The West Nile fever is not transmitted from person to person and the patient does not pose any risk to the people living with him. The main prevention measure is to reduce the risk of mosquito bites as mosquitos are the main carrirs of the disease.