Mosquitoes infected with West Nile virus have been in Serbia for 2 weeks, in 4 locations in Pancevo alone

Illustration: Telegraf

West Nile virus has been present in mosquitoes in Serbia for two weeks. There are infected mosquitoes in Serbia in three cities - in Belgrade, Pozarevac and Pancevo, and as we have been told by the Public Health Institute in Pancevo, the virus was detected in mosquitoes on June 21.

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"According to the data sent to us from the Institute for Biocides and Medical Ecology dated June 21, 2022, the presence of the West Nile virus genome was confirmed in four locations in the territory of the city of Pancevo, namely in Vojlovica, Rit under the bridge, Kudeljarski embankment and the Karaula settlement (barracks)," the head of the department for infectious diseases at the Institute of Public Health in Pancevo, epidemiology specialist Dr. Olivera Stanisic, told Telegraf.rs.

She added that no cases of infection have been registered among humans in Pancevo.

Telegraf.rs contacted the Batut Public Health Institute of Serbia and the Ministry of Health regarding the appearance of West Nile virus in mosquitoes, but we have not received a response yet.

West Nile virus is transmitted to humans by our domestic, Culex pipiens species of mosquito. In 2020, for the first time in eight years, not a single case of the diseases caused by the virus was recorded among people in Serbia, even though infected mosquitoes were present in 11 cities, and even though this disease was confirmed in 308 people in Europe. However, this did not happen last year, in 2021, when there were infections.

West Nile virus infections were officially registered for the first time among citizens in Serbia at the end of July 2012. From 2012 to 2019, there have been a total of 1,016 cases and 98 deaths in our country, according to the official data of the Batut Institute.

(Telegraf.rs)