Yzabelle Bostyn
THE eleventh victim of West Nile virus has died in Seville after a pensioner caught the mosquito-borne disease.
From Los Palacios y Villafranca, the 70-year-old man had been in intensive care for the past five months.
According to the Sevilla Department of Health, he died last Thursday, November 28.
Sevilla is the province most affected by the virus and Coria del Rio is the hardest hit town.
They have registered the most fatalities with four deaths and the highest number of cases at 27, or 26% of the Andalucian total.
The city of Sevilla, Mairena del Aljarafe, Mairena del Alcor, Utrera, La Puebla del Rio, Dos Hermanas and Los Palacios have also registered one death each.
Some 91 cases, or 87% of the Andalucian total (104) have been detected in Sevilla.
Towns near the Guadalquivir river are the hardest hit, with Dos Hermanas, La Puebla del Rio and Los Palacio registering 21, 10 and 8 cases respectively.
The data suggests this has been the worst year yet for West Nile virus, with deaths exceeding the 2020 record of 77 cases in Andalucia alone.
This year, close monitoring has allowed researchers to detect its presence from the first week of June.
But this isn’t enough for the many protestors who have taken to the streets with the ‘Platform for Those Affected by West Nile Virus.’
They are demanding a vaccine alongside other measures.
However, with the arrival of cooler weather, new cases have not been detected in the last three weeks.
Despite this, residents of affected areas remain hyper vigilant, including Coria del Rio, Puebla del Rio, Palomares del Rio, Almensilla y Bollullos de la Mitacion, all of which were declared ‘sensitive areas’.
