Climate change plays an important role in the spread of West Nile fever.
Izvor: Youtube/printscreen/The Economist
Scientists have succeeded in proving that climate change has a major role in the spread of the West Nile virus in Europewhich was suspected for some time, the Belgian news agency Belga announced today.
Until now, climate change has been considered one of the possible causes of the spread of West Nile virus, along with deforestation and increased population density, and now researchers from two Brussels universities have confirmed this. Like malaria, West Nile virus is transmitted by mosquitoes. About a quarter of those infected get symptoms including fever and headache, and less than one percent develop severe neurological complications.
That virus causes a disease called West Nile fever, which originally appeared in areas closer to the Equator, but climate change has contributed to the expansion of infected mosquito habitats. The study’s lead author, Diana Erazo, said the results of their research indicate that climate change “play an important role in the spread of West Nile virus in Southeastern Europe”.
Co-author of the study Vim Tijeri said that “we can see the focus in the Balkans and the Mediterranean” and added that “the migration of mosquitoes to the north will also spread to Scandinavia as long as climate change lasts”. “In addition to the escalation of climate extremes, the emergence of tropical diseases in Europe is, unfortunately, one of the many logical consequences of our dependence on oil, coal and gas“, stated Thijeri.
Otherwise, the famous Yugoslav actress Mira Furlan died in January 2021 as a result of infection with the West Nile virus.
(Beta/FASHION)