JERUSALEM, July 8 -- The number of people who died from the ongoing outbreak of West Nile fever in Israel rose to 14 on Monday, with two new deaths, according to data issued by the Israeli Ministry of Health.

The total number of infection cases in the country rose to 267, with 31 new cases, the highest annual number of infections with the virus in Israel since the year 2000, when more than 400 cases were diagnosed.

The ministry noted that the incidence of the virus in Israel is higher and more prolonged compared to previous years, probably due to weather changes, with the high humidity in central Israel leading to the reproduction and development of mosquitoes.

West Nile fever is caused by a virus found mainly in birds and is transmitted to other animals and humans through the bite of mosquitoes that feed on infected birds.

Common symptoms are fever, headaches, weakness, joint and muscle pain, conjunctivitis, rash, and sometimes nausea and diarrhea.

Possible rare complications are acute inflammation of the brain or meningitis, and the disease rarely ends in death.

  - Xinhua