Residents in Seville protest as West Nile virus kills five

Five people have died from the West Nile virus in the Spanish province over the summer.

The World Health Organization (WHO) has said the virus can cause a fatal neurological disease in humans, but that approximately 80% of people who are infected will not show any symptoms. Less than 1% of cases leads to death, with the elderly being a particularly high-risk group.

The West Nile virus is mainly transmitted to people through the bites of infected mosquitoes and can cause severe disease and death in horses. At the moment vaccines are available for use in horses but not yet available for people. The WHO also said that birds are the natural hosts of the virus.

There have been 61 cases of infection registered near the city of Seville, and five deaths. They all occurred in the Lower Guadalquivir Valley area, where there are large areas of rice fields and marshes. Mild winters and a rainy spring season has encouraged the virus to spread – experts have suggested fumigation of the rice fields could help slow or stop the spread.

The protests, organised by the platform Fight against the Nile Virus, happened yesterday evening (2 September) in the town of Isla Mayor in the Seville province. The public are demanding more action by local and national authorities to control the spread of the disease.

The virus is commonly found in Africa, Europe, the Middle East, North America and West Asia, the WHO said, but since the beginning of 2024, 13 countries in Europe have reported human cases of West Nile virus, including Albania, Austria, Bulgaria,Croatia, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Italy, Kosovo, Romania, Serbia and Spain.

Last week the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) issued a health advisory about the Oropouche virus.