West Nile virus: five hospitalised this week, 55 confirmed cases
Five people admitted this week; authorities report 55 confirmed infections and a dead crow in Karposh tested positive.
Health authorities report a decline in hospitalisations from West Nile virus this week: five people were admitted, and 19 patients remain under treatment at the Clinic for Infectious Diseases. Three patients have been extubated and are improving, while two remain on mechanical ventilation.
Shift in case mapping and bird surveillance
“These are older men who also have other illnesses,” said Fadil Cana, director of the Clinic for Infectious Diseases, describing the group recently hospitalised.
According to statistics compiled by the Ministry of Health, there are 55 confirmed cases of the virus so far; 52 of those cases required hospital treatment. The ministry notes the infection is spread by the bite of the tiger mosquito.
Minister of Health Sasho Klekovski said the geographic mapping of cases is currently concentrated in Skopje North, a change from the start of the outbreak when most patients were from the southern part of the city near Skopsko Pole. Klekovski also announced that another dead crow found in Karposh, close to the Drama Theatre, tested positive for the virus.
“I ask citizens to report dead crows, not birds in decomposition. In the future we will focus on dead birds outside Skopje,” Klekovski said, urging public cooperation in surveillance.
So far six people in the country have died from the virus.
Photo: press material from the event
