MILAN (Reuters) -Two people had died and eight others had been infected with the West Nile virus in Italy so far this year, the Health Ministry said on Wednesday.
The virus, which mostly spreads to people through mosquito bites, can cause severe, life-threatening illness in about 1 in 150 people who are infected, according to the World Health Organization.
Italy detected the virus for first time in 1998, the Ministry said.
A cluster of infections has seen seven cases in the region of Lazio, which includes Rome, since the beginning of the year, the ministry said in a report on its website.
Italian media reported on Sunday that an 82-year-old woman had died at a hospital in the province of Latina, south of Rome, after being infected.
The virus has also been detected in the northern regions of Emilia-Romagna, Veneto, Piedmont and Lombardy, as well as on the island of Sardinia and the southeastern Puglia region.
The West Nile virus is becoming more common in Europe and was found in May for the first time in mosquitoes collected in Britain.
In the United States it caused about 2,500 cases and 182 deaths in 2023, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
(Reporting by Sara RossiEditing by Keith Weir)
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