Armenia records 58 cases of West Nile fever

YEREVAN, AUGUST 21, ARMENPRESS. 58 cases of the West Nile fever have been recorded in Armenia so far, 41 patients are hospitalized, 4 of them are in serious condition, the General Director of the National Center for Disease Control and Prevention Stepan Atoyan said at a press conference.

1 person has died. The deceased was an 86-year-old man with underlying health conditions, according to Atoyan.

The West Nile virus, which is spread by mosquitoes and then causes the West Nile fever in humans through bites, was detected in mosquito samples in Aragatsotn province, Atoyan said.

Mosquitos were examined for the virus in Armenia in the 1980s, however, no virus was detected back then. The studies resumed only in 2023, and in the end of July of 2024 the virus was found in five mosquitoes in Aragatsotn province. 

The NCDC maintains direct contact with hospitals across the country to raise awareness. Health workers are instructed to take into account the West Nile fever in case of treating patients who have related symptoms.

The first case was diagnosed on August 7, and passed a verification test and confirmed on August 10. 

“At this moment three provinces are in our focus, Aragatsotn, Armavir and Ararat,” Atoyan said, adding that they expect the infected mosquitoes to be present there. But so far, the virus was detected only in Aragatsotn. 

“We have 58 confirmed cases so far, 41 patients are still hospitalized. They are mostly in moderate condition. Four patients are in serious condition. We don’t have critically ill patients,” he added.

According to the World Health Organization, human infection of the West Nile virus is most often the result of bites from infected mosquitoes. Mosquitoes become infected when they feed on infected birds, which circulate the virus in their blood for a few days. The virus eventually gets into the mosquito's salivary glands. During later blood meals (when mosquitoes bite), the virus may be injected into humans and animals, where it can multiply and possibly cause illness. A very small proportion of human infections have occurred through organ transplant, blood transfusions and breast milk. There is one reported case of transplacental (mother-to-child) WNV transmission. To date, no human-to-human transmission of WNV through casual contact has been documented, and no transmission of WNV to health care workers has been reported when standard infection control precautions have been put in place.

The disease is caused by the West Nile Virus (WNV).

Infection with WNV is either asymptomatic (no symptoms) in around 80% of infected people, or can lead to West Nile fever or severe West Nile disease.

About 20% of people who become infected with WNV will develop West Nile fever. Symptoms include fever, headache, tiredness, and body aches, nausea, vomiting, occasionally with a skin rash (on the trunk of the body) and swollen lymph glands.

The symptoms of severe disease (also called neuroinvasive disease, such as West Nile encephalitis or meningitis or West Nile poliomyelitis) include headache, high fever, neck stiffness, stupor, disorientation, coma, tremors, convulsions, muscle weakness, and paralysis. It is estimated that approximately 1 in 150 persons infected with the West Nile virus will develop a more severe form of disease. Serious illness can occur in people of any age, however people over the age of 50 and some immunocompromised persons (for example, transplant patients) are at the highest risk for getting severely ill when infected with WNV.

The incubation period is usually 3 to 14 days.

Treatment is supportive for patients with neuro-invasive West Nile virus, often involving hospitalization, intravenous fluids, respiratory support, and prevention of secondary infections. No vaccine is available for humans.

In the absence of a vaccine, the only way to reduce infection in people is by raising awareness of the risk factors and educating people about the measures they can take to reduce exposure to the virus.

Public health educational messages should focus on the following:

Reducing the risk of mosquito transmission. Efforts to prevent transmission should first focus on personal and community protection against mosquito bites through the use of mosquito nets, personal insect repellent, by wearing light coloured clothing (long-sleeved shirts and trousers) and by avoiding outdoor activity at peak biting times. In addition community programmes should encourage communities to destroy mosquito breeding sites in residential areas.
Reducing the risk of animal-to-human transmission. Gloves and other protective clothing should be worn while handling sick animals or their tissues, and during slaughtering and culling procedures.
Reducing the risk of transmission through blood transfusion and organ transplant. Blood and organ donation restrictions and laboratory testing should be considered at the time of the outbreak in the affected areas after assessing the local/regional epidemiological situation.