Alert in Kerala after boy dies of West Nile fever
- The Health Department has issued an alert in Malappuram after a six-year-old boy from the district undergoing treatment for West Nile fever died at the Government Medical College Hospital
- Health experts claimed this could be the first confirmed death in the State due to the relatively unknown viral infection that leads to neurological diseases.
- Birds are the natural hosts of the virus and vaccine is not available for it. There had been a suspected case of the infection last year in Kozhikode district but the National Institute of Virology had not confirmed it.
- According to the World Health Organization, this viral infection is most often the result of mosquito bites. Mosquitoes are infected when they feed on birds, which circulate the virus. It may also be transmitted through contact with other infected animals, their blood, or other tissues. Symptoms of the virus infection include cold, fever, fatigue and nausea.
