Australian health authorities report death from Japanese encephalitis

25/2/2025 13:56

Australia's most populous state has reported its first death from the mosquito-borne Japanese encephalitis (JE) virus in three years.



Health authorities in New South Wales (NSW) said on Tuesday that a man from northern Sydney aged in his 70s died on Sunday in hospital where he had been receiving treatment for JE since early February.



It marked the first death of a person with JE in NSW since May 2022.



NSW Health said that the man likely became infected with the virus while holidaying along the Murrumbidgee River in the state's south in January. It also said that another case of JE has been identified in a woman in her 60s in the state's north who is receiving care in hospital.