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Dutch West Nile Cases Climb to 18 as Death Toll Hits Three
(MENAFN) Nine fresh cases of West Nile virus have surfaced in the Netherlands since last Thursday, pushing the country's confirmed 2026 infection count to 18, the National Institute for Public Health and the Environment (RIVM) reported, according to a broadcaster.
The virus has now claimed three lives domestically this year — up sharply from the single fatality recorded just a week earlier, the institute said.
Cases have turned up across six provinces: Utrecht, North Brabant, North Holland, South Holland, Overijssel and Gelderland. One infection was flagged through a research project run by blood bank Sanquin Research, while the rest were caught after patients sought hospital care for symptoms, the RIVM said.
A separate fatality — a woman from Drenthe — was excluded from the official Dutch tally because she had contracted the virus while traveling in Southeast Europe.
West Nile virus circulates mainly among birds and spreads to people through mosquito bites; the common house mosquito picks it up from infected birds and can then pass it to humans and other animals. Human-to-human transmission does not occur, the RIVM noted.
Roughly 80% of those infected show no symptoms at all, while about one in five develop flu-like illness. Only around 1% go on to develop neurological complications, with the elderly and immunocompromised facing the steepest risk of severe disease. The virus was first confirmed in the Netherlands in August 2020, detected through a Sanquin blood-donor study.
Beyond human cases, the Dutch Food and Consumer Product Safety Authority logged 53 new equine infections since its last update, bringing the year's horse case total to 58. The virus has also turned up in 39 birds so far — 23 found dead and 10 discovered alive.
The virus has now claimed three lives domestically this year — up sharply from the single fatality recorded just a week earlier, the institute said.
Cases have turned up across six provinces: Utrecht, North Brabant, North Holland, South Holland, Overijssel and Gelderland. One infection was flagged through a research project run by blood bank Sanquin Research, while the rest were caught after patients sought hospital care for symptoms, the RIVM said.
A separate fatality — a woman from Drenthe — was excluded from the official Dutch tally because she had contracted the virus while traveling in Southeast Europe.
West Nile virus circulates mainly among birds and spreads to people through mosquito bites; the common house mosquito picks it up from infected birds and can then pass it to humans and other animals. Human-to-human transmission does not occur, the RIVM noted.
Roughly 80% of those infected show no symptoms at all, while about one in five develop flu-like illness. Only around 1% go on to develop neurological complications, with the elderly and immunocompromised facing the steepest risk of severe disease. The virus was first confirmed in the Netherlands in August 2020, detected through a Sanquin blood-donor study.
Beyond human cases, the Dutch Food and Consumer Product Safety Authority logged 53 new equine infections since its last update, bringing the year's horse case total to 58. The virus has also turned up in 39 birds so far — 23 found dead and 10 discovered alive.
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