Dutch blood donor diagnosed with West Nile virus; Likely contracted in the Netherlands
A blood donor in the Netherlands has been diagnosed with a West Nile virus infection. The individual has not recently been abroad, so the RIVM believes the infection was contracted in the Netherlands.
The last time a person in the Netherlands was diagnosed with the West Nile virus was in 2020. The virus occurs in birds and is transmitted via the common house mosquito. Humans and horses, among other creatures, can get the virus from mosquitoes, but can’t pass the virus on further themselves.
People can become ill from the virus, but 80 percent of infected people don’t get symptoms. West Nile fever, with flu-like symptoms, occurs in 19 percent of infected people. Neurological symptoms occur in 1 percent of infections. A small proportion of people with severe West Nile fever may die.
The RIVM reports that a human, a horse, and a bird have tested positive for the West Nile virus within a “short period of time at various locations in the Netherlands.” According to the RIVM, this shows that there are mosquitoes in the Netherlands that carry the virus.
Reporting by ANP
