The first case of West Nile virus in 2026 has been detected in Cyprus. The patient is a 70-year-old man who is in serious condition and is being treated in the intensive care unit at Nicosia General Hospital.
Elisavet Konstantinou, Deputy Director of the Ministry of Health, speaking on the Alpha Kalokairi program, said that this is the first case in Cyprus this year, which comes as no surprise since there are one or two sporadic cases each year.
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The case involves an elderly man who, at first glance, appears to have no travel history; in other words, it is a “domestic case.”
The virus, as explained, is not transmitted from person to person, but infection stems from infected mosquitoes or certain types of rodents, and the vast majority (80%) of cases are asymptomatic. A small percentage of people experience symptoms of a generalized infection, such as rashes, fever, muscle aches, etc. An extremely small percentage (less than 1%) may experience neurological symptoms, such as severe headache, confusion, etc.
According to Ms. Konstantinou, the Ministry has protocols and procedures in place for managing cases, and once they are identified, spraying operations are carried out to control mosquitoes.
Furthermore, the virus has been monitored in Cyprus since 2016, and the reported cases remain sporadic, with the exception of 2019, when 24 cases were recorded, and in 2023, when nine cases were recorded, while there were also years with zero cases, such as 2020, 2021, and 2025.
Ms. Konstantinou emphasized that it is important for citizens to take insect-repellent measures, as well as for travelers visiting areas where there is a surge in the virus.
Meanwhile, infectious disease specialist Aristos Aristodemou, speaking to CNA, said that it was to be expected that we would have a case, since the mosquito capable of transmitting the West Nile virus is endemic to Cyprus. He explained, in fact, that the Ministry’s services are also on alert for the Aedes aegypti and Aedes albopictus mosquitoes, which can transmit diseases that are not endemic to Cyprus, such as dengue fever, Zika, and Chikungunya.
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