TRNC Health Ministry steps up measures against West Nile virus after 10 cases reported in the Republic of Cyprus

The TRNC Ministry of Health said it had stepped up preventive measures following reports of West Nile virus in the Republic of Cyprus, where 10 cases of infection have been identified and one person has died.

The information was passed to Northern Cyprus through the Bi-Communal Technical Committee on Health, a structure through which medical professionals from the island’s two communities exchange data on the epidemiological situation. The ministry clarified that it had requested the information following press reports about the virus in the Republic of Cyprus: the committee discussed the issue on 3 September and reported on 4 September that ten people had been infected and one had died.

Two cases were identified in Lefkoşa near the buffer zone. Following this, the Primary Healthcare Department and the Lefkoşa Turkish Municipality (LTB) simultaneously stepped up mosquito control and other preventive measures in the area.

Minister of Health Hakan Dinçyürek contacted Mehmet Harmancı, mayor of the Lefkoşa Turkish Municipality, and passed on the latest data. The ministry also informed the Cyprus Turkish Municipalities Union (KTBB) and asked it to raise the level of coordinated measures across the island to the maximum.

West Nile virus is transmitted to humans through mosquito bites. In most infected people, the infection passes without symptoms; in rare cases, it causes severe damage to the nervous system. There is no vaccine for humans or specific treatment, so the main measures remain mosquito control and protection against bites.