The West Nile fever which is spreading quickly in the United States has been confirmed to have arrived in Korea. The illness is known to be transmitted by insect vector type of mosquitoes which originated from Africa.
According to the Disease Management Headquarters Friday, a 59-year-old man who returned from Guinea after staying there for six months through June. He developed a fever and headaches and received treatment for two week. When conditions did not improve, he returned to Korea in June. He has recovered considerably after returning home.
He was the first patient after the West Nile fever was classified as Class 4 in 2011.
The West Nile fever is contracted when bitten by the vector type mosquito which quickly affects the central nervous system and can be transmitted through transfusions and organ transplants. In 80 percent of the cases, the symptoms do not even show but for the remaining 20 percent, it can lead to bird influenza and even death.
There is a general alert among the health authorities since mosquitoes can transmit the illness by biting a patient and biting someone else.
This has been the case in the United States where people travel across the country but the infection could easily occur in Korea. The first of the West Nile fever was detected in the west end of the Nile River in Uganda in 1937. Since 1999, 4,149 cases have been registered in the United States alone and 168 of the patients have died.