British holidaymakers in Spain are at risk from deadly ‘West Nile’ virus spread by mosquitos, experts say as outbreak kills two in Seville and puts eight in intensive care
- Outbreak of West Nile virus claimed the lives of two people in Seville, Spain
- Virus, which is spread by mosquitoes, also put eight in hospital intensive care
- Today expert in infectious diseases warned it could spread to the whole of Spain
A killer virus spread by mosquitoes could pose the next health risk for British holidaymakers travelling to Spain, experts say.
An outbreak of the deadly West Nile virus has already claimed the lives of two people in the southern Spanish city of Seville and put eight in hospital intensive care.
Today an expert in infectious diseases warned it could spread to the whole of Spain.
Pablo Barreiro told Spanish press: ‘Only about two to five per cent of the cases present symptoms.
A worker wears protective clothing as they fumigate a field in Palomares del Rio, Seville, Spain, following an outbreak of the West Nile virus
A children’s playground is fumigated by a worker in Seville, Spain, as the control tries to control the spread of the virus
The outbreak has claimed the lives of two people in the southern Spanish city of Seville
‘It’s an illness that can go unnoticed very easily.’
A second person who was being treated at Seville’s Virgen del Rocio Hospital died on Friday, taking the death toll from the current outbreak of the virus to two.
Eight of the 23 patients who have been admitted to hospital are said to be in intensive care.
The first person to die was a 77-year-old man who lost his fight of life on Thursday. The second fatality was an 85 year-old woman,
Regional health chiefs have ordered a massive fumigation of the area most affected, the wetlands of the Guadalquivir River in the municipalities of Coria and La Puebla del Rio near to Seville.
But overnight it emerged a resident of a third municipality, Los Palacios y Villafranca, had been hospitalised with an inflammation of the brain known as meningoencephalitis after being bitten by an infected mosquito.
Its town hall said in a statement released on Saturday: ‘Today mayor Juan Manuel Valle has been informed a person from Los Palacios and Villafranca has been hospitalised with meningoencephalitis caused by West Nile Virus.
‘This has been confirmed officially with the relevant health authority and with the person’s relatives.’
Claiming the virus could spread across Spain in the future, especially in the hot summer months, Mr Barreiro said prevention based around the regular use of mosquito repellent was the most effective solution.
West Nile Virus, spread by the Culex mosquito, first reached Spain in 2004 with horses being most affected.
The current outbreak is the worst on record in Spain’s southern Andalucia region, which includes popular Brit holiday areas like the Costa del Sol and is the most populated of the country’s regions with nearly nine million inhabitants.
Elderly people and those with underlying health conditions like diabetes and cancer are most at risk, but it can cause meningitis in children.
Wetlands and swimming pools in countryside areas have been identified as the places where the mosquitoes carrying the virus are most likely to be found.
A ferry crosses the Guadalquivir river in Coria del Rio in southern as the government continues to fumigate the area following an outbreak of the West Nile virus
Two people rest next to Guadalquivir River in Spain as regional health chiefs order a massive fumigation of the area most affected
The wetlands of the Guadalquivir River in the municipalities of Coria and La Puebla del Rio near to Seville are the areas most affected. Pictured: View of the Guadalquivir River