The Federal Service for Health and Consumer Rights (Rospotrebnadzor) said 10 to 20 people are contracting West Nile virus daily in a current outbreak of the disease in the Volgograd region, and that 206 people had been diagnosed with it as of Wednesday, f

(Kazan, September 1, Tatar-inform). The Federal Service for Health and Consumer Rights (Rospotrebnadzor) said 10 to 20 people are contracting West Nile virus daily in a current outbreak of the disease in the Volgograd region, and that 206 people had been diagnosed with it as of Wednesday, five of the cases being lethal, says Interfax.

The number included 162 cases in the city of Volgograd. "There have been registered cases of the disease in the city of Volzhsky and 17 rural districts," a spokesman for Rospotrebnadzor told Interfax.

Nine of the 17 districts were not known to have ever been stricken by West Nile virus before. Seven of the nine districts recorded one case each. The other two registered two cases each.

Three of the districts had been hit by West Nile virus before. Each registered two cases by Wednesday.

Before August 26, between six and 10 people had contracted the virus in the region daily, the branch said.

Due to abnormal heat this summer, the first case of West Nile virus was recorded in the region on July 16 or one month earlier than last year.

More than 300 people contracted West Nile virus in the Volgograd region in 1999, 30 of them dying. There had never been a registered case of the disease in the region before.