West-Nijl-viruspoliomyelitis na vakantie in Egypte

Background

Due to the worldwide near-extinction of poliovirus infections an acute presentation of poliomyelitis in the Netherlands has become extremely rare. However, in the differential diagnosis of such a disease presentation other pathogens need to be considered as well.

Case description

A 44-year-old female presented with fever and a flaccid paresis of the left leg, following a holiday in Egypt. The laboratory investigation demonstrated an acute West Nile virus (WNV) infection, after which the diagnosis ‘WNV poliomyelitis’ was made.

Conclusion

WNV poliomyelitis is a rare neurological complication of an infection with the WNV. The areas in Europe where WNV transmission to humans occurs are expanding. In the future, the number of neurological disorders caused by WNV is likely to increase, also in the Netherlands.

Conflict of interest: J.J.J. de Sonnaville is member of the advisory board on diabetes at Sanofi Aventis and received payment for lectures from Novartis (‘diabetes in view’ for general practitioners), MSD (‘Vlieland course’ about osteoporosis and CVR-management for general practitioners) and NovoNordisk (‘diabetes and cancer’ for internists DESG). Financial support for this article: the institute of J. Raaphorst received a payment for a fellowship ‘Neuromuscular diseases’ from the Princess Beatrix Fund.