The government of Panama reported that on Thursday, December 7, the first death from the ‘equine encephalitis’ virus was recorded.‘, the victim was a 20-year-old migrant man who had crossed the jungle of Darien.
Due to the above, epidemiological surveillance was reinforced in this area that connects Colombia and Panama.
(Also: Alert in Argentina for a virus that affects horses: it could reach humans).
“The Gorgas Memorial Institute for Health Studies detected a case of the Venezuelan Equine Encephalitis virus in the Marraganti area, in the province of Darién,” about 250 km east of the capital, the country’s Ministry of Health said in a statement. release.
This virus, also known as EE, has a high lethality in horses and is a disease specific to this species; However, it is transmissible to humans through the bite of a mosquito.
(Keep reading: What is known about the new virus that began to be reported in China?).
If not controlled in time, this virus can cause damage to a person’s health.
“It generates headache, high fever, tiredness, general malaise, weakness, chills and then seizures, alterations in reflexes and can leave permanent scars or even death“Eduardo López, head of the Department of Medicine at the Ricardo Gutiérrez Children’s Hospital, told ‘La Nación’.
Is equine encephalomyelitis spread between humans?
As mentioned above, this virus reaches humans through the bite of a mosquito that has previously been in contact with an infected horse, so the Human-to-human transmission is null.
Elena Obieta, member of the Argentine Society of Infectious Diseases (SADI), told ‘The Nation’ that the mortality of the virus in humans is 30%.
(Keep reading: First vaccine against the chikungunya virus approved in the United States: this is how it works).
“There is no interhuman transmission, it is not proven that a mosquito that bites an infected person can then infect another. This disease is controlled by vaccinating horses. People should avoid areas where infected horses have been reported,” the expert pointed out.
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