Latvia's first case of West Nile fever in Latvia has been confirmed in the laboratory of the Latvian Research Institute for Food Safety, Animal Health and the Environment in the form of a dead wild bird.

West Nile virus has been detected in a sample of a dead sharp-shinned hawk submitted for cause-of-death determination, „Bior“ officials said.

They explained that West Nile fever is a mosquito-borne infectious disease that affects birds and horses, and, to a lesser extent, other species of animals. Birds are the vectors of the virus, but humans can also be infected, but there is no human-to-human transmission.

In most cases, West Nile virus causes mild malaise in the form of acute fever – a flu-like illness; rarely, symptoms of encephalitis develop.

Cases of West Nile fever have been reported in Poland.

The virus was first isolated from the blood of febrile patients in Uganda in 1937. It is classified as an endemic virus (continuously present in the population). In Europe, sporadic cases are reported annually, as well as seasonal outbreaks in southern, eastern and western European countries.