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Diagnosis of West Nile virus encephalitis in a returned traveller

Naomi CA Whyler, Jasmine C Teng, David J Brewster, Ruth Chin, Ian Cox, Julian Druce, Henry M Prince, David A Sheffield, Eugene Teh and Vineet Sarode
Med J Aust 2019; 211 (11): . || doi: 10.5694/mja2.50416
Published online: 9 December 2019

A 63‐year‐old woman developed chills, vomiting and diarrhoea the day after returning from 2 months' travel in South East Europe. Travel included a Danube River cruise trip and time in Serbia, Croatia, Germany, Austria, Slovakia and Hungary. She visited rural areas and sustained mosquito bites, but reported no unpasteurised food consumption, animal contact or bites. Pre‐travel consultation was not undertaken. Past medical history included follicular lymphoma in remission, with rituximab‐induced hypogammaglobulinaemia.


  • 1 Cabrini Malvern, Melbourne, VIC
  • 2 Alfred Health, Melbourne, VIC
  • 3 Melbourne Pathology, Melbourne, VIC
  • 4 Cabrini Clinical School, Monash University, Melbourne, VIC
  • 5 Royal Melbourne Hospital, Melbourne, VIC
  • 6 Victorian Infectious Diseases Reference Laboratory, Melbourne, VIC
  • 7 Peter MacCallum Centre, Melbourne, VIC
  • 8 Monash Health, Melbourne, VIC
  • 9 Eastern Health, Melbourne, VIC



Competing interests:

No relevant disclosures.

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