West Nile virus in Europe - update 3

From the beginning of summer 2022 to 19 October 2022, the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) has reported 1 157 cases of West Nile fever in European countries.

The affected countries are: Italy (573 cases), Greece (274 cases), Serbia (218 cases) Romania (47 cases), Hungary (14 cases), Austria (6 cases), Croatia (8 cases), Germany (9 cases), Spain (4 cases), France (3 cases) and Slovakia (1 case).

Seventy-nine deaths have been reported from: Italy (37 deaths), Greece (25 deaths), Serbia (11 deaths) and Romania (5 deaths).

West Nile fever is caused by West Nile virus (WNV). The virus is spread by mosquito bites and can cause a flu-like illness, sometimes leading to severe or life-threatening disease.

Advice for Travellers

Travellers should be advised to:

• practice mosquito bite avoidance measures at all times, especially at dusk and dawn during peak transmission times and when outbreaks are known to be occurring
• seek medical advice if they develop a sudden onset of flu-like symptoms with fever following travel to a risk area

There is no vaccine against West Nile virus.

Note for blood donors: those who have recently travelled to an area with WNV transmission may need to be tested for WNV before donating blood.

• see the Scottish National Blood Transfusion Service website for further details

For further information see TRAVAX West Nile Fever page.