Israel has received its first warning of the approaching the region from the Far East and South America, now that the Health Ministry has announced 7 cases of infection with the virus in Sharm el-Sheikh in the last month. An expert explained to that a that can transmit the disease is already present in Israel, and climate change will bring the spread of fever closer. The expert issued that warning that dengue fever outbreaks in Israel are not a question of if it will break out here, but when.
The Health Ministry said that in May, three Italians were found with the symptoms of the disease. They returned to Italy, where blood tests indicated that they contracted dengue fever while in Sharm el-Sheikh after being bitten by infected mosquitoes. Four more residents of Israel were also infected and diagnosed with the fever.
"Egypt is a region where mosquito-borne diseases are not known until now," explained Prof. Eli Schwartz, an expert on internal medicine and tropical diseases from the Sheba Medical Center, "there is no doubt that the cases of infection indicate an outbreak of dengue there where the mosquitoes were infected." According to Prof.
Schwartz, this is the most common disease in the southern hemisphere. "Travelers are familiar with it from Southeast Asia, Latin America and Africa," she said. "Since the Asian tiger mosquito that transmits the disease is found both in Israel and Europe, infected mosquitoes can infect the mosquitoes in Israel and cause an outbreak.
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