(Revises death toll)
PRISTINA, Sept 20 (Reuters) - At least five people in the
Balkans have died from West Nile virus and several dozen others
have been hospitalised in the past four weeks, according to
health authorities in Serbia, Kosovo, Macedonia and Croatia.
West Nile virus is a mosquito-borne disease usually found
in temperate and tropical regions. While many cases are mild and
have no symptoms, severe disease symptoms can include headaches,
high fever, neck stiffness, coma, tremors, convulsions, muscle
weakness and paralysis.
Kosovo confirmed its first fatality on Wednesday, saying the
victim was a woman from central Kosovo who died on Sept 14.
Macedonia's health officials said on Thursday one woman had died
and two other people were infected with the virus.
A spokesman for the Kosovo Health Ministry told Reuters on
Thursday two other people who died recently were also suspected
of having the same virus, but the cases had not been confirmed
with laboratory blood tests.
The United States is currently experiencing one of its worst
outbreaks of West Nile virus since 2003.
In Serbia, three people have died and 35 were hospitalised
since mid-August.
"This is the first time the West Nile virus has been
officially registered in Serbia," the country's Department for
Public Health said in a statement.
All the infected people were over 50 and had other chronic
diseases, it said. Serbia's western neighbour Croatia has
registered five probable cases of the virus but no deaths.
(Reporting by Fatos Bytyci in Kosovo, Aleksandar Vasovic in
Serbia, Kole Casule in Skopje and; Zoran Radosavljevic in
Croatia; Editing by Sophie Hares)