Three cases of West Nile fever have been confirmed at a riding centre in San Bartolomé de Tirajana on Gran Canaria. Three horses are affected. The Canary Islands Government has activated a safety protocol.
Specifically, the Canary Islands Public Health Authority, in collaboration with the Directorate-General for Livestock and the Institute of Tropical Diseases at the University of La Laguna (ULL), has activated the protocol for epidemiological and entomological surveillance in the Maspalomas area.
West Nile fever broke out in a horse that had been brought to the Canary Islands from France via Seville. Two further horses have since fallen ill. The health authorities are now investigating reports of symptoms consistent with the disease. The symptoms are as follows:
Gran Canaria: West Nile fever outbreak at riding centre
The disease can be transmitted by common house mosquitoes. Transmission from horse to human is virtually impossible. Compared with viral diseases such as dengue fever, West Nile fever can be transmitted by ordinary mosquitoes found in the Canary Islands and throughout Europe.
Horses and humans are considered ‚dead-end hosts‘. Whilst they do fall ill, the viral load is too low for them to pass the virus on themselves. A mosquito, on the other hand, can transmit it from, for example, a wild bird to various other animals.
The outbreak came to light after a vet in Gran Canaria diagnosed one of the horses as showing typical symptoms. Further animals were then examined, and three cases have now been confirmed.
For many bird species, the disease can be fatal. Sparrows and pigeons usually show no symptoms, whilst ravens and birds of prey, for example, may suffer from meningitis and neurological deficits. They often die within a few days.
In horses, measurable symptoms are rare. When they do occur, stumbling, staggering and disorientation are among the most noticeable signs of illness. In humans, too, there are few symptomatic cases of the disease. Severe cases are extremely rare and tend to occur in people who are already ill or frail. The symptoms are usually flu-like.
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