Baby left hospitalised after mosquito bite as Japanese virus spreads

A four-month-old baby has been hospitalised after contracting Japanese encephalitis during a family camping trip.

Sam and his parents were staying in a caravan park on Lake Hume, along the NSW and Victoria border, in late January when he was bitten by a mosquito infected with the virus (JEV).

However, they did not realise he had been bitten until two weeks later when he developed a fever and suffered a seizure, his mum Bec told popular Instagram page Tiny Hearts Education.

"Of course it’s been by far the hardest thing I’ve ever had to endure and my anxiety levels are at an all-time high, all day every day worrying because this variant of encephalitis is unknown territory for Australia, it breaks my heart seeing our usual smiley and bubbly Sam go through this," she said.

Sam was admitted to the Royal Children’s Hospital for two weeks and underwent a lumbar puncture and MRIs.

He was also given antibiotics and anti-seizure medicine which he will need to keep taking for the next few months. He will also still require fortnightly visits to the doctor.

Man fights for life in hospital

Australians are being urged to take steps to protect themselves amid an increase in JEV cases.

The wife of a man fighting for his life in a Melbourne hospital after contracting "a very severe form of the virus" is warning others to be aware of the early signs of infection.

Jackie Monk told ABC’s 7.30 her husband David Kiefel had just recovered from a battle with stage four oesophageal cancer when he suddenly started to feel unwell in mid-February.

"David had achy joints. He said he had a low-grade headache," she said.

"He didn't really seem to understand basic questions and seemed quite weak, and I thought, 'What the hell is going on?'"

As his condition deteriorated, Mr Kiefel was airlifted to hospital and remains on life support.

Fears JEV could infect feral pig population

There have now been 16 human cases of the virus across the country, including seven in Victoria, one in Queensland and four in NSW.

Two people have died from the infection — a Victorian man in his 60s on February 28 and a Sydney man in his 70s on February 13.

The virus is spread by mosquitoes and can infect humans and animals, but cannot be passed from person to person, NSW Health said.

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While 99 per cent of people who contact the virus do not develop any symptoms, those that do face a 20 to 30 per cent fatality rate, according to the World Health Organization.

There is no cure for the disease.

Associate Professor Cameron Webb, an entomologist from NSW Health Pathology, told ABC’s 7.30 this week JEV circulates between mosquitos and waterbirds.

"But occasionally those infected mosquitoes will either bite pigs or sometimes people,” he said.

"The conditions over the last couple of years — a weather pattern dominated by La Nina, with considerable rainfall — have created ideal conditions for the emergence and spread of Japanese encephalitis virus.

"The water provides habitat for the birds that are a reservoir of the virus, and the mosquitoes that spread it from the birds to pigs and potentially the people."

Since February this year, the illness has been detected in samples from pig farms in NSW, Queensland, Victoria and South Australia.

The pork industry is now warning JEV could spread further and more rapidly if it infects the country’s feral pig population of 24 million.

To prevent being bitten, NSW Health recommends:

• Avoid the outdoors, bushland and wetlands at peak mosquito times — dawn and dusk

• Wear long sleeves and pants, socks and shoes

• Use insecticides (e.g. permethrin)

• Use and reapply repellent (e.g. DEET, picaridin, or oil of lemon eucalyptus)

• Use mosquito nets for children, and mosquito coils

• Empty and reduce all water-holding containers around your house.

with AAP

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