A detailed study in the free lunch shows that two new viruses are taking hold in Occitania: West Nile and Usutu.
“Watch carefully”
Concerns about virus usage “it must be carefully monitored. There is no outbreak to fear, no need to be alarmist but there is a quiet circulation both in birds, but also in humans and animals like dogs or horses. It is probably becoming ‘endemic’ in our area”, explains to Midi Libre the scientist Yannick Simonin, lecturer at the University of Montpellier.
During the summer of 2018, “We have had nearly 2,000 cases from West Nile in Europe, including nearly 400 deaths (mainly related to neurological damage) and probably also cases in Occitania, but this circulation has gone largely unnoticed in our region”, continues the specialist.
These two viruses are transmitted via mosquitoes, and their development would be favored by global warming. To protect yourself as much as possible, you must therefore put in place strategies to avoid being bitten.
Symptoms of Tropical Viruses
In the majority of cases (80%), West Nile virus infection is asymptomatic. “The symptomatic forms of the disease are characterized by the sudden appearance of a high fever after 3 to 6 days of incubation”, explains the Pasteur Institute. This fever is accompanied by headache and back pain, muscle aches, cough, swollen glands in the neck, rash, nausea, abdominal pain, diarrhea and respiratory symptoms. “Neurological complications (meningitis, encephalitis) occur in less than 1% of cases. Even more rarely, other complications (hepatitis, pancreatitis or myocarditis) may appear”, continues the research center. Generally, the patient recovers spontaneously, sometimes with sequelae. But the viral infection can be fatal, mainly in older adults.
Also sometimes asymptomatic and deadly, the Usutu virus can cause meningitis, meningoencephalitis or paralysis. It mainly affects people who are immunocompromised or suffering from chronic pathologies.