ECDC-Wochenbericht: Fast 1.600 West-Nil-Fälle in Europa registriert

Since spring, over 1,500 West Nile cases have been registered in Europe, with people contracting the virus domestically, not through travel. Italy has been the most affected, accounting for around 696 of the total 1,569 cases revealed by the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) as of September 23. Following Italy are Greece with 355 cases, Spain (125), France (102), Romania (91), North Macedonia (69), and Serbia (46).

Notably, 28 cases have been clustered in the Netherlands. Germany reported 4 cases - in the Rhein-Pfalz-Kreis, Leipzig and Berlin (2 cases). In Italy, infections are spread across the entire country, with hotspots around Rome, Padua, and Milan. In contrast, Spain's affected regions are the southwest Extremadura and western Andalusia, according to the ECDC.

The record for West Nile cases is held by 2018 with a total of 2,083 cases. As of September 3, the authorities had recorded 61 deaths, 49 of them in Italy and Greece. The reported cases significantly exceed the numbers documented in Europe in previous years: 1,112 cases in 2025, 1,436 in 2024, and 1,339 in 2022. The West Nile virus is primarily transmitted by mosquitoes between wild birds, but humans and other mammals can also be infected.

About 20% of people infected with the West Nile virus develop West Nile fever - a fever-like flu-like illness. Only about one in 100 infected individuals becomes severely ill. Most West Nile fever resolves without complications, according to the Robert Koch Institute (RKI), though severe cases may experience late sequelae relatively frequently.