West Nile virus keeps on moving up in Europe

In 2020, WNV caused remarkable outbreaks in certain areas in Europe, such as Spain and the Netherlands. However, the largest outbreak of human WNV infections in European Union/European Economic Area (EU/ EEA) countries was recorded in 2018, when 11 countries reported 1,548 locally acquired mosquito-borne infections [1]. The number of WNV infections in 2018 exceeded the cumulative number of all reported infections between 2010 and 2017, and the highest number of newly affected areas (n = 45) was reported [2]. Even though in 2019, the number of reported locally acquired human WNV infections dropped by 73% compared with 2018, the total numbers were still the second highest ever recorded. Most countries reported numbers of infections similar to before 2018, while Greece continued to report a high number of infections [1].

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