The first case of West Nile fever, a mosquito-born ailment that can be fatal to the elderly and young babies, was reported in Israel on Monday, said Haaretz newspaper.
The ailment, which can result in spinal meningitis, is treated symptomatically, for its high fevers and vomiting. Last summer, the disease reached epidemic proportions, with some 452 cases and 29 deaths reported.
Mosquitoes pick up the disease from infected fowl.
According to Dr. Emilia Anis, the deputy head of the Health Ministry's epidemiology department, for every case of the illness that requires hospitalization, there are four cases that are not diagnosed as West Nile fever, and another 140 cases in which no symptoms of the disease appear.
The disease was first diagnosed in Israel in 1953 and over the next three decades, there were a number of outbreaks, said the paper.
However, no significant outbreaks of the illness occurred, until cases appeared again in the late 1990s – Albawaba.com
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