There are now four cases of individuals affected by West Nile Virus (WNV) in Andalusia. The Health Department confirmed today that in addition to the two individuals infected after being bitten by the Culex mosquito in Dos Hermanas, Seville at the beginning of the month, which resulted in the death of a 71-year-old woman, two new cases have emerged in Coria del Río and Los Palacios, in the same province.
A 46-year-old woman has been hospitalized since July 6th and is showing positive progress, while a 41-year-old man has been discharged from Virgen del Rocío Hospital after a three-day stay.
Both affected individuals underwent an analysis, and their samples were sent to the laboratory at the Virgen de las Nieves University Hospital in Granada, where it was confirmed that they tested positive for WNV.
Three municipalities at maximum risk.
The threat of the West Nile Virus (WNV) is a concern for the city councils in the province, whose municipalities have municipal action plans to prevent the proliferation of mosquito vectors throughout the towns. In fact, in many areas, control and fumigation work began in May. However, so far this week, there have been four cases of individuals affected by this virus in Seville, one of them being a woman with pre-existing conditions who passed away in a Seville hospital, triggering alarms.
The first two hospitalizations occurred in residents of Dos Hermanas, a municipality located in the depression of the Guadalquivir River. It was then when the authorities declared a level 5 risk, the highest alert. Now, following the recent events, the risk level has also been raised from 3 to 5 in Coria del Río (at the crossing of the Guadalquivir River) and Los Palacios (in the marshes of the river). This entails an urgent action against the adult mosquitoes of the Culex genus, as well as an intensification of municipal plans in both areas.
In this way, they should increase communication to the population about preventive measures. All of this will be discussed in a coordination meeting this Friday, as foreseen by the West Nile Fever Surveillance and Control Program in Andalusia, implemented in 2021.
They urgently request the “risk map”.
Since this problem became acute in the province, the mayors of the towns most affected by the proliferation of this mosquito (those near the river) have been requesting more help from the Regional Government to combat this issue. They were mainly asking for financial support, as with municipal budgets they can only act in urban areas such as parks, leaving rural or remote areas outside of their capabilities.
In May, municipalities began the fumigation campaign against the mosquito carrying the West Nile virus
This demand is once again highlighted by the mayor of Los Palacios y Villafranca, Juan Manuel Valle, who urgently requests that the Andalusian Regional Government provide the “risk maps” that the Seville Provincial Council has. This administration pledged to allocate funds to “intervene in rural areas” and has been preparing for action for several days, as explained by Valle.
Valle has pointed out that municipalities have been working since last May “as established in our local plans, acting preventively in urban areas, in parks”, but in rural areas it is impossible for municipalities. “We hope that - the delivery of the documentation- will be immediate, because in these matters, not a day can be wasted”, he concluded.