Eighth West Nile death in North Macedonia — 70-year-old from Dračevo
A 70-year-old man from Dračevo is the eighth fatality; 58 cases are confirmed and eight patients are hospitalized in Skopje.
The death toll from West Nile virus in North Macedonia has risen to eight after a 70-year-old man from Dračevo died following a ten-day fight at the Clinic for Infectious Diseases in Skopje.
Dr. Fadil Tsana, director of the clinic, said the patient arrived in extremely serious condition, was immediately intubated and placed on mechanical ventilation, but medical efforts were unsuccessful.
Current hospital picture in Skopje
At present eight patients with confirmed neuroinvasive West Nile disease are hospitalized at the Clinic for Infectious Diseases; two of them are in very serious condition, intubated and on mechanical ventilation. Nearly all hospitalized patients are over 60 years old.
All but one of the hospitalized patients live in Skopje; the other is from Sveti Nikole. Health authorities say the infections were acquired domestically.
According to the Institute of Public Health, a total of 58 West Nile cases have been registered in the country so far. Most cases are clustered in the Skopje municipalities of Kisela Voda, Aerodrom, Gazi Baba and Butel.
Experts note that roughly 80% of infected people remain asymptomatic, about 20% develop a mild febrile illness and under 1%—usually those over 60 or with chronic conditions—develop a life‑threatening neuroinvasive form (meningitis or encephalitis) requiring urgent hospitalization.
Regional reporting shows the disease is regularly recorded in neighboring Serbia and Greece, and the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control lists seasonal infections in Italy, Romania, Hungary, Croatia and Bulgaria. Epidemiologists warn that longer warm periods linked to climate change extend mosquito season and raise the risk of virus spread across the Balkans.
Photo: Илустрација (АИ)
