A six-year-old in Kerala, who had tested positive for West Nile Virus (WNV), died in Kozhikode.

About West Nile Virus:

• • West Nile virus (WNV) is an infectious virus spread by infected mosquitoes. It spreads from birds to humans with the bite of an infected Culex mosquito.
• The symptoms include a fever, headache, body aches, skin rash, and swollen lymph glands.
• The symptoms can lead to St. Louis encephalitis, Japanese encephalitis, meningitis and yellow fever.
• Humans, horses and other mammals can be infected.

Global spread:

• • West Nile virus was first isolated in the West Nile district of Uganda in 1937.
• • WNV is commonly found in Africa, Europe, the Middle East, North America and West Asia.
• The virus is now widely reported from Canada to Venezuela.

Spread in India:

• • WNV is highly prevalent in India since 1970s. It had been reported from states like Rajasthan, Maharashtra, Tamilnadu, Andhra Pradesh, Gujarat,Odisha.
• Presence of WNV was documented in north- eastern region of India during the year 2006 from four districts of Assam.

Treatment:

• • There are no specific vaccines or treatments for human WNV disease.
• • The best way to avoid WNV is to prevent mosquito bites.