Patients with encephalitis of unknown cause to be tested for West Nile virus, doctors advised

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By Ella Pickover, PA Media

The West Nile virus has been detected in mosquitoes in the UK for the first time, with the UK Health Security Agency recommending that patients with encephalitis of unknown cause be tested as a precaution.

The UKHSA and the Animal and Plant Health Agency (APHA) said “fragments of West Nile virus genetic material” were found in some Aedes vexans mosquitoes collected in wetlands on the River Idle at Gamston, near Retford in Nottinghamshire, in July 2023.