FEARS are building over the spread of 'paralysing' West Nile virus in Europe after a perfectly healthy mum died in a tourist hotspot in Spain after being bitten by a disease-ridden mosquito. Granada Romero Ruiz was rushed to hospital on July 11 after falling ill with the nasty bug. Her devastated family confirmed that she had died just nine days later Friday night at Seville's Virgen del Rio Hospital.
The 86-year-old's son, Antonio Pineda, claimed she was in perfect health before a mosquito bit her. "She had no underlying health problems, she was healthy as could be, active and with a normal life," he told local media . Antonio believed his mother's death could have been avoided had areas near his mother's home been properly fumigated.
Tragically, this is not the first time the virus has affected the lives of Granada's family. Her husband contracted the but in 2016. This comes as the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) warned about the deadly virus and said in its weekly update that there have been new outbreaks in part of Greece and Italy .
“Europe is already seeing how climate change is creating more favourable conditions for invasive mosquitoes to spread into previously unaffected areas and infect more people with diseases such as dengue,” said ECDC director Andrea Ammon. "Increased international travel from dengue-endemic countries will also increase the risk of imported cases, and inevitably also the risk of local outbreaks." Most read in Health.