site.btaThree West Nile Fever Cases Registered, Two Patients Die

Three Bulgarians have been infected with the West Nile fever, two of whom died, Health Ministry told BTA on Thursday. One of the infected, from the Haskovo Region (Southern Bulgaria), imported the virus from abroad, having travelled to Greece in May and returned to Bulgaria in early August. The other two infected were Sofia residents, both patients have died. So far, there is no evidence that they have been abroad. 

According to the National Centre for Infectious and Parasitic Diseases, there were two registered cases of West Nile fever in the country in the period of August 19-25, 2024. In 2023 and until the previous reporting week, the country had no recorded cases of the infection, the Centre's data further showed.  

The West Nile virus is most commonly spread through the bite of an infected mosquito. The incubation period for the infection ranges from 2 to 14 days. There are no vaccines to prevent or medicines to treat the disease.