Europe - West Nile Fever Outbreaks 2019 - Mediareports

[Gert van der Hoek]

Two new cases of West Nile fever in Bulgaria

Posted on 15/08/19

Two new cases of West Nile fever have been confirmed in Bulgaria, the health ministry said. In one case, the patient is a Bulgarian from the Pazardzhik region who has been resident for the last 2 months and has developed clinical symptoms of the disease in Cyprus. He is hospitalized in Pazardzhik. The other patient was a man from Sofia who was hospitalized with neurological symptoms at a hospital in Sofia.
An epidemiological study of the cases was carried out and the mechanisms and place of infection were clarified.

[Gert van der Hoek]

Russia: two Rostovites died from "mosquito fever", about 70 are infected

September 13, 2019
In the Rostov Region, two people died from West Nile fever. In total, more than 70 people became infected with this disease.

According to Don-TR , two people died of fever in the Zimovnikovsky district. They are associated with late visits to the doctor.

According to the Rostov-on-Don administration, a total of 72 cases of West Nile fever have been reported in the region. Of these, 30 cases occurred in Rostov-on-Don. This disease is transmitted through mosquito bites, which actively breed due to weather. The city authorities allocated additional funds from the budget for extraordinary disinfestation.

Previously, this disease was found in the Krasnodar Territory. At the beginning of August, 7 people fell ill with them, the regional department of Rospotrebnadzor reported.
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IPA

[Gert van der Hoek]

19.09.2019 :

Greece - West Nile virus toll rises to 25


The death toll in Greece from West Nile virus since June this year has risen to 25, according to this week?s report by the National Health Organization (EODY).

Up until September 19, authorities had diagnosed a total of 195 cases of the mosquito-borne virus. Of these, 121 developed illnesses affecting the central nervous system such as encephalitis or meningitis.

EODY is urging the public to spray insect repellent on bare skin and clothing, to install mosquito nets and screens, to remove stagnant water from basins, vases and gutters, to regularly mow lawns and to water plants in the morning.

[Gert van der Hoek]

Germany - West Nile virus discovered in Hamburg

Hamburg Journal 18.00 - 26.09.2019

In Hamburg, a bird has been found for the first time, which was infected with the West Nile virus. The virus can also affect horses.

[Gert van der Hoek]

First infection with West Nile virus in humans in Germany


09/27/2019

In a person from Saxony, the National Reference Center for Tropical Pathogens at the Bernhard Nocht Institute for Tropical Medicine ( BNITM ) in Hamburg detected the first infection with West Nile virus ( WNV ) in a human being in Germany. The person was ill with an encephalitis, was treated in the St. Georg Hospital in Leipzig and has now recovered. It comes from a region where the FLI has already confirmed WNV cases in horses and birds. Infections with West Nile virus in humans are notifiable and have to be reported to the Robert Koch Institute.

In horses and birds infections with WNV are notifiable. To date, 11 cases have been detected in horses and 44 in birds in Germany by the National Reference Laboratory for WNV at the Friedrich-Loeffler-Institut. As infections in horses are still to be expected, the Standing Veterinary Vaccination Commission (StIKO Vet) at the FLI repeats its recommendation to vaccinate horses in affected areas.

See also report Rober Koch Institute

[Gert van der Hoek]

Other cases of West Nile virus infection transmitted in Germany

24 10 2019

Epidemiological Bulletin 43/2019 reports on two other autochtonous cases of West Nile Virus (WNV) infection in Germany (Berlin and Saxony-Anhalt). The onset of these cases is almost identical to that of the first case of mosquito-borne meningoencephalitis reported by WNV in Saxony in Epidemiological Bulletin 40/2019.

In addition, there are a few more possible cases still in clarification. Other diagnosed human diseases confirm that in parts of East Germany this summer there was a WNV infection risk for humans. It can therefore be assumed that there were additional undiagnosed infections in the late summer of 2019, but for the most part they were asymptomatic.

[Gert van der Hoek]

West Nile Virus - Situation in Germany

In monitoring programs, the Bernhard Nocht Institute and the Friedrich Loeffler Institute, together with veterinary authorities, have been studying wild birds and mosquitoes on WNV for a long time and can thus detect an occurrence. In the summer months 2018 and 2019 - during the mosquito season - WNV findings (subtype 2) were reported in birds and horses, mainly in eastern Germany (see press release of the Friedrich-Loeffler-Institut dated 12.9.2019 ). Obviously, the virus circulates at least regionally between mosquitoes and birds in the summer months.

In recent years, cases have repeatedly been recorded in Germany among travelers from regions affected by West Nile fever. The first human case in Germany without a travel history, diagnosed in 2018, concerned a veterinarian who had probably become infected during the dissection of a bird that died of WNV.

In 2019, the first cases of West Nile fever transmitted by mosquitoes in Germany became known: the affected persons fell ill in the late summer of 2019 (see Epid Bull 40/2019 and Epid Bull 43/2019 ). Other possible cases are still under investigation. Since only a small proportion of those infected show symptoms and only one out of every 100 people is seriously ill, it can be assumed that there were additional undiagnosed infections in the late summer of 2019 (most of which were asymptomatic).

It can be expected that WNV will continue to establish itself in Germany and that in the coming years - especially in exceptionally warm and longer summers - there will be more mosquito-transmitted WNV cases even among people in Germany.

24 10 2019

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