In a monitoring operation in the center of the country, Israel’s Ministry of Environmental Protection captured mosquitoes infected with the West Nile virus in the area of Ben Gurion Airport.
Forty-two Israelis have been diagnosed with West Nile Fever since May, according to figures released by the Health Ministry on Tuesday. Of that number, 36 patients have been hospitalized, including five patients placed on ventilators.
Two patients died of the virus on Monday at Petah Tikvah’s Beilinson Hospital, raising the number of fatalities to four.
To protect yourself from mosquito bites and reduce the risk of being bitten The Ministry of Health notes that, as a rule, about 80% of those infected do not develop symptoms of West Nile fever.
The pest control and extermination team of the Ministry of Environmental Protection performs throughout the year thousands of monitoring of mosquito larvae in water sources as well as hundreds of captures of adult mosquitoes. The mosquitoes are transferred to the Ministry of Health laboratories for identification and testing.
If the virological test indicates that the mosquitoes are infected with the virus that causes West Nile fever, the Ministry of Environmental Protection issues an alert to the relevant authority and an immediate demand to treat the hazard.
West Nile Virus is a mosquito-borne virus that causes West Nile fever. Most carriers of the virus never develop symptoms. About 20% of those infected have symptoms of varying severity, including fever, general malaise, headaches or generalized body aches. Neurological complications appear in less than 1% of those infected.
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