Another West Nile death in the north

A 37-year-old woman has died following an infection by the West Nile Virus in the north, with reports saying the patient lost her life due to the neuroinvasive disease of the virus but also other health complications.

Reports said the woman was confined in her hospital bed for over a month and was said to have been facing multiple health issues.

Turkish Cypriot media said she was reportedly exhausted by the time she was admitted to a public hospital and was already running a high fever. Health officials had been waiting for official tests to confirm the virus while also treating the patient from the beginning.

Two others lost their lives in the north in similar West Nile Virus cases, one in late July and another in late August, while another death was recorded in the south over the summer when a local male senior citizen lost his life while battling the virus from his hospital bed.

Officials in the Republic of Cyprus, who said the patient was of very old age, had expressed concern that the number of West Nile cases was likely to rise.

Most West Nile virus infections occur in warm weather when mosquitoes are most active during the summer. The incubation period is anywhere between a couple of days and two weeks, that is the time between a bite by an infected mosquito and the appearance of symptoms.

Officials on both sides of the island advised the general public during the summer to take preventative measures to minimize exposure to mosquito bites. Such measures included using bug repellent spray when outdoors, closing doors and windows when indoors or using door and window screens.

Humans get the virus most commonly by the bite of an infected mosquito, which has been feeding on infected birds before spreading WNV to people and other animals.

There was no official update on whether the number of WNV deaths was expected to go up or down in the near future.