Eight Dead and 69 Infected by West Nile Virus in Europe

Eight people have died and 69 have been infected since the beginning of the year in European countries by the West Nile virus (WNV), the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) said today.

Warning that the virus transmission season is underway, the European Union (EU) body said in a statement that "additional human cases are expected in the coming weeks and months".

 

By the end of July, cases of human infection had been reported in Greece (31), Italy (25), Spain (5), Austria (2), Hungary (2), Serbia (2), France (1) and Romania (1), with deaths recorded in Greece (5), Italy (2) and Spain (1).

According to the ECDC, the total number of cases reported this year "is within the expected range, although the number of cases in Greece and Spain is higher than in previous years".

"The clinical and severity indicators are also similar to those of previous years," with "all regions affected this year having been affected previously or having had neighboring regions report cases."

WNV is transmitted by mosquito bites and spread is most common among birds, but humans and mammals can also be infected.

Around 80 per cent of human infections have no symptoms, while the rest can cause fever, headache, malaise, vomiting and tiredness. Less than one per cent of infections can lead to serious illnesses affecting the nervous system.

The EU agency also said that most human cases occur between July and September, when mosquitoes are active, advising people to use "repellent, wear clothes that cover most of the body and sleep in rooms with mosquito nets or air conditioning".

As of 12 April, only 13 cases of horses testing positive for West Nile virus had been reported in Portugal, in the Lisbon and Alentejo regions, the coordinator of the Vector Surveillance Network (REVIVE) told Lusa.

Maria João Alves said that research had been carried out on mosquitoes and that no human cases had been reported in Portugal.

In Portugal, West Nile fever in humans is a notifiable disease under the National Epidemiological Surveillance System (SINAVE).

REVIVE is a national programme that aims to monitor and control the presence of organisms that transmit pathogens (viruses, bacteria, parasites) from one infected host to another, causing disease in humans and animals.