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. 2018 Aug;23(32):1800428.
doi: 10.2807/1560-7917.ES.2018.23.32.1800428.

Early start of the West Nile fever transmission season 2018 in Europe

Joana M Haussig  1   2 , Johanna J Young  1   2 , Céline M Gossner  1 , Eszter Mezei  3 , Antonino Bella  4 , Anca Sirbu  5 , Danai Pervanidou  6 , Mitra B Drakulovic  7 , Bertrand Sudre  1
Affiliations

Early start of the West Nile fever transmission season 2018 in Europe

Joana M Haussig et al. Euro Surveill. 2018 Aug.

Abstract

In Europe, surveillance indicates that the 2018 West Nile fever transmission season started earlier than in previous years and with a steeper increase of locally-acquired human infections. Between 2014 and 2017, European Union/European Economic Area (EU/EEA) and EU enlargement countries notified five to 25 cases in weeks 25 to 31 compared with 168 cases in 2018. Clinicians and public health authorities should be alerted to ensure timely implementation of prevention measures including blood safety measures.

Keywords: West Nile fever; West Nile virus; real-time surveillance; vector-borne diseases.

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Conflict of interest statement

Conflict of interest: None declared.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Number of West Nile fever cases in European Union/European Economic Area (EU/EEA) and EU enlargement countries by epidemiological week of notificationa, 2014–2018 (n = 943)
Figure 2
Figure 2
Number of West Nile fever cases by week of notificationa and by year, for Greece, Hungary, Italy, Romania and Serbia, 2014–2018 (n = 899)
Figure 3
Figure 3
Cumulative number of cases by week of disease onset (n = 837a) (A) and by week of notification (n = 899) (B), Greece, Hungary, Italy, Romania and Serbia, 2014–2018
Figure 4
Figure 4
Distribution of regions at NUTS 3 level reporting at least one case of West Nile fever, Europe, 2014–2018
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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