Mosquitoes infected with the deadly West Nile virus were detected at Israel’s southernmost border crossing with Jordan, the Israeli Health and Environmental Protection ministries said on Tuesday. In response, the Environment Protection Ministry ordered the municipality of the nearby resort city of Eilat to carry out monitoring, and if necessary, exterminations as well, the ministries said in a joint statement.
Israeli authorities also detected infected mosquitoes in the Arava Valley, the area along Israel’s border with Jordan from the Dead Sea to the Red Sea.
One person in Israel has died from the virus this year, and another is hospitalized in serious condition, the Health Ministry reported.
Culex and Asian tiger mosquitoes transfer the West Nile virus to humans. Most people exposed to the virus suffer from flu-like symptoms such as headaches, fever, and muscle aches, or no symptoms at all. But a minority develop an infection in the brain, which can lead to paralysis, brain damage, and even death.