Mosquitoes carrying West Nile virus found in Israel as it records 3rd death amidst 'outbreak'; Whooping cough cases also rise

Jerusalem Post
Tue, 25 Jun 2024 16:27 UTC

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Health officials have confirmed the first death in Maricopa County from West Nile virus since this year's mosquito season began in May.

Mosquitoes infected with West Nile virus have been found and captured at Ben-Gurion Airport, Israeli media reported on Tuesday.

According to the report, the airport is set to undergo pest control.

Comment: Xinhua reports on the latest death:

The Israeli Ministry of Health reported in a statement on Tuesday that a patient died of West Nile fever, bringing the total number of deaths from the virus in the current outbreak in the country to three.

The ministry noted that the deceased patient was hospitalized at the Sheba Medical Center in central Israel.

In addition, there is an ongoing investigation into whether the virus caused the death of another patient at Beilinson Hospital, also located in central Israel.

Meanwhile, the ministry reported 10 new cases of infection with the virus, which is transmitted by mosquito bites. This brought the total number of cases since the beginning of May to 42, with 36 patients hospitalized, including five currently ventilated.

Later in the day, the Israeli health and environmental protection ministries said in a joint statement that mosquitoes infected with the virus were detected at Ben Gurion International Airport outside Tel Aviv.

Following the detection, the Environmental Protection Ministry instructed the Israel Airports Authority to expand the monitoring and extermination system in the airport area.

Also on Tuesday, the Health Ministry reported the death of a five-week-old baby from the Jerusalem area due to Pertussis, also known as whooping cough, noting that his mother was not vaccinated against the bacterium during pregnancy.

Since January 2023, Israel has witnessed a rise in whooping cough cases, prompting intensified efforts by the ministry to combat the disease.

One wonders just how significant this rise in whooping cough cases is, because with the vast majority of Israel's population injected with the experimental mRNA covid jabs, which are known to contaminate breast milk, it may be that this rise is related.

That's also why this outbreak of West Nile Virus is worth monitoring, because whilst West Nile outbreaks have been reported in the years prior, the population has never been more vulnerable.

Furthermore, Israel's Palestinian concentration camps, and their ongoing famine and genocide in Gaza, are -as Israel knows very well - now, a breeding ground for disease:

• 'Outbreak' of West Nile Fever reported in Israel, 7 hospitalized in Tel Aviv
• Vaccines begin flowing into Gaza amidst soaring childhood disease infection rates
• UN warns Gaza faces imminent threat of starvation, thirst, and disease outbreaks due to Israel's blockade