Jerusalem, Jul 18 (IANS): The Israeli Ministry of Health on Thursday reported three new deaths from West Nile fever, bringing the total number of fatalities in the current outbreak in Israel to 36.

The ministry also reported 57 new cases of infection with the virus, raising the total number of infections since the beginning of May to 543.

The West Nile virus is transmitted to humans from birds by mosquito bites. Most human infections show no to mild cold symptoms, but occasionally, some people could develop severe illnesses affecting the central nervous system.

Earlier this week, Israel's Ministry of Environmental Protection reported the capture of mosquitoes infected with the virus in several places in central Israel, including the cities of Tel Aviv, Kiryat Ono and Herzliya, and in the Sharon plain region.

Following the detection, the ministry directed the country's local authorities to further expand monitoring and extermination and called on the public to dry stagnant water sources, Xinhua news agency reported.