West Nile virus in Europe - update 3

26 Oct 2022

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 and sometimes, severe disease.

Advice for Travellers

WNV is rare in travellers. There is no vaccine against WNV.

When visiting areas experiencing an outbreak of WNV, you should:

• practice mosquito bite avoidance measures both day and night
• seek medical advice if you develop a sudden onset of flu-like symptoms with a high temperature (fever) following travel to a risk area

Note for blood donors: if you have recently travelled to an area with WNV transmission, you 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 the fitfortravel West Nile Fever page.