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. 2024 Jul;29(30):2400457.
doi: 10.2807/1560-7917.ES.2024.29.30.2400457.

Early rise of West Nile fever in Israel, June 2024

Zohar Mor  1   2 , Husein Omari  2 , Victoria Indenbaum  3 , Oscar D Kirstein  4 , Oren Shatach Catabi  2 , Shay Reicher  5 , Yaniv Lustig  6   3 , Maya Davidovich-Cohen  4 , Ehud Kaliner  7 , Rivka Sheffer  8 , Shirly Elbaz  4 , Or Kriger  9 , Sharon Alroy-Preis  9
Affiliations

Early rise of West Nile fever in Israel, June 2024

Zohar Mor et al. Euro Surveill. 2024 Jul.

Abstract

This report describes an unusual surge of West Nile fever in Israel in June 2024, during which 125 cases were diagnosed, compared with 4 cases on average during June in previous years (2014-23). Of the cases, 64 (62.1%) had neuroinvasive disease and 12 (9.6%) died; the 2024 case fatality rate was not significantly elevated vs the average rate in 2014-23. The early rise could be related to a temperature increase in spring and early summer of 2024.

Keywords: Avian; Israel; Migratory birds; Mosquitoes; Neuroinvasive disease; One Health; West Nile fever; West Nile virus.

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Conflict of interest statement

Conflict of interest: None declared.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Epidemiological curve of cases with West Nile fever diagnosed in Israel, June 2024 (n = 125)
Figure 2
Figure 2
Geographic distribution of cases with West Nile fever diagnosed in Israel, June 2024 (n = 125)
Figure 3
Figure 3
Number of cases with West Nile fever and proportion of hospitalisations, neuroinvasive disease and mortality, Israel, 2014–2024 (n = 561)
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