Fifth West Nile virus death confirmed as number of cases rises

A fifth person has died after contracting the West Nile virus since the turn of the year, while the number of confirmed infections has increased to 44.

The public health agency RIVM said another 16 patients had been detected since the last update a week ago. The agency has stressed there is no risk of a pandemic because the virus cannot be transmitted from person to person.

Doctors, vets, virologists and other specialists are monitoring the spread of the disease and deciding if extra precautionary measures need to be taken.

The virus, which is transmitted by mosquitos, causes no symptoms in 80% of people who contract it. but West Nile fever leads to neurological problems in around 1% of cases and in exceptional cases it can be fatal.

Following the death of a hospital patient in Utrecht, the RIVM said last month that the virus was now circulating in the Dutch mosquito population. Previous deaths had been limited to people who were infected while travelling abroad.

Around half the infections reported to the RIVM this year have been in Zuid-Holland province, with other cases in Utrecht, Noord-Holland and Noord-Brabant, Gelderland and Overijssel.

West Nile virus can also be contracted by other species such as birds and horses, but they cannot transmit the infection to humans. The RIVM has recorded 136 positive tests in horses and 171 in birds so far this year.