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West Nile Virus in Europe (Update 4)

15 November 2017

The European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control  reports West Nile virus (WNV) continues to be tranmitted in Europe.

From the beginning of the 2017 transmission season to 9 November 2017, WNV disease disease has been reported from: Romania (66 cases), Italy (57), Greece (48), Hungary (20), Croatia (5), Austria (4), France (1) and Bulgaria (1).

Outside the European Union, cases have been reported from Serbia (49), Turkey (5) and Israel (28).

Deaths from West Nile fever have occurred in Romania (14), Greece (5), Hungary (2), Italy (1), Croatia (1), Serbia (2) and Turkey (1).

Advice for Travellers

WNV is present in many countries across the world but the risk to travellers is low.

All travellers should be advised to practice Mosquito Bite Avoidance, especially from dusk till dawn during peak transmission times and when epidemics are known to be occurring.

No vaccine is available against WNV.

NOTE: UK Blood Transfusion Services accept donation from travellers returning from areas where there is a risk of West Nile Fever, provided the blood is tested negative for WNV.

  • It is important donors inform the transfusion services about all recent travel outside the UK so the blood can be tested for WNV, as this is not a routine screening test.

The Scottish National Blood Transfusion Service have produced a leaflet which details information about blood donation after travel:

For further advice see West Nile Fever.