West Nile virus transmission is over in Europe:ECDC
Image/CDC
Since there have been no new West Nile virus (WNV) transmissions in Europe since Nov. 1, plus the fact that mosquito populations are decreasing, the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) to announce the end of the West Nile season, according to a ECDC news release Dec. 12.
According to European health authorities, as of 30 November 2012, 237 human cases of West Nile fever have been reported in the EU and 670 in neighboring countries.
Cases reported in the EU included confirmed and probable cases with positive laboratory result as per the EU case definition and all reported cases outside the EU.
The ECDC describes the history of WNV in Europe as follows:
West Nile transmission in known to be present in Europe since a long time: in the 1960s the virus emerged in southern France in the Camargue. Yet, the first large outbreak in humans was reported from Bucharest, Romania in 1996-1997.
Since then, infection in humans and/or horses have been reported from the Czech Republic (1997), France (2000, 2003, 2004, 2006), Italy (1998, 2008, 2009), Hungary (2000-2009), Romania (1997-2001, 2003-2009), Spain (2004) and Portugal (2004).
In 2010, the ecological parameters in Central European and Mediterranean countries were favourable for the transmission of WNV to humans. A human outbreak was reported from the Central Macedonia Region in northern Greece and human cases were reported from Romania, Hungary, Italy and Spain in August-September 2010. At the same time a large outbreak in humans was reported from Volgograd in Russia, as well as cases in Turkey and infections were also confirmed in donkeys in Bulgaria and horses in Portugal and Morocco.
In 2012, the first cases of West Nile fever were reported on 7 July from Greece and Russia.
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