Athens (dpa) - Two people have died and 14 are ill from a
mosquito-born disease called West Nile fever, the Greek Health
Ministry said on Tuesday.
All the cases were diagnosed over the past 10 days in northern
Greece and confirmed by laboratory tests, the ministry said.
"There's no cause for panic. Most people don't show any symptoms,
even when they are infected," said Anna Pappa, Deputy Professor for
Microbiology at Aristotle University in the northern city of
Thessaloniki.
Symptoms are headaches and aching limbs, which pass off after a
few days.
People in the infected areas were advised to use insect repellants
or creams.
The West Nile virus mainly infects birds, but can also be passed
on to humans through the bite of an infected mosquito.
Copyright 2010 dpa Deutsche Presse-Agentur GmbH