Health authorities in New South Wales (NSW) and South Australia have warned their residents to avoid getting bitten by mosquitoes as flooding and summer weather conditions have caused dangerous mosquito-borne viruses to emerge in the two states.
On Jan. 11, NSW Health announced that the potentially fatal Murray Valley encephalitis (MVE) virus was detected in a mosquito in Menindee, a small town in the far west of the state.
The agency said the recent floods and rain in the area were most likely behind the emergence of the virus.
While the primary hosts of the MVE virus are waterbirds such as herons and egrets, it is not transmitted via touching an infected animal or eating animal products….