Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2022 Sep;27(36):2200653.
doi: 10.2807/1560-7917.ES.2022.27.36.2200653.

Rapid increase in neuroinvasive West Nile virus infections in humans, Italy, July 2022

Flavia Riccardo  1 , Antonino Bella  1 , Federica Monaco  2 , Federica Ferraro  3 , Daniele Petrone  1 , Alberto Mateo-Urdiales  1 , Xanthi D Andrianou  4 , Martina Del Manso  1 , Giulietta Venturi  1 , Claudia Fortuna  1 , Marco Di Luca  1 , Francesco Severini  1 , Maria Grazia Caporali  1 , Daniela Morelli  2 , Federica Iapaolo  2 , Ilaria Pati  1 , Letizia Lombardini  1 , Tamas Bakonyi  4 , Olivia Alexandra  4 , Patrizio Pezzotti  1 , Maria Gabriella Perrotta  3 , Francesco Maraglino  3 , Giovanni Rezza  3 , Anna Teresa Palamara  1 ; Italian Arbovirus Surveillance network  5
Collaborators, Affiliations

Rapid increase in neuroinvasive West Nile virus infections in humans, Italy, July 2022

Flavia Riccardo et al. Euro Surveill. 2022 Sep.

Abstract

As in 2018, when a large West Nile virus (WNV) epidemic occurred, the 2022 vector season in Italy was marked by an early onset of WNV circulation in mosquitoes and birds. Human infections were limited until early July, when we observed a rapid increase in the number of cases. We describe the epidemiology of human infections and animal and vector surveillance for WNV and compare the more consolidated data of June and July 2022 with the same period in 2018.

Keywords: Italy; One Health; West Nile virus; epidemiology; outbreaks; public health policy; surveillance; vector-borne infections; viral infections.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

Conflict of interest: None declared.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
West Nile virus detection in mosquitoes, birds, horses and humansa, by date of detection or symptom onset, Italy, 1 June–24 Augustb 2022
Figure 2
Figure 2
Confirmed human cases of West Nile virus infection notified in weeks 23–33 of 2022, (n = 300a) and of 2018 (n = 423) and confirmed cases of WNND, 2012–24 August 2022, Italy
Figure 3
Figure 3
Geographical distribution of West Nile virus human infections in regions with at least one human case with onset or diagnosis up to 31 July, by affected municipality and degree of urbanisation, Italy, 2018 vs 2022
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC). List of case definitions for reporting communicable diseases to the Community network under Decision No 2119/98/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council. Stockholm: ECDC. [Accessed: 29 Aug 2022]. Available from: https://www.ecdc.europa.eu/en/all-topics/eu-case-definitions
    1. Ministero della Salute. Piano Nazionale di prevenzione, sorveglianza e risposta alle Arbovirosi (PNA) 2020-2025 [National plan for the prevention, surveillance and response to arboviruses, 2020-2025]. Rome: Ministero della Salute; 2019. Italian. Available from: https://www.salute.gov.it/imgs/C_17_pubblicazioni_2947_allegato.pdf
    1. Riccardo F, Monaco F, Bella A, Savini G, Russo F, Cagarelli R, et al. An early start of West Nile virus seasonal transmission: the added value of One Heath surveillance in detecting early circulation and triggering timely response in Italy, June to July 2018. Euro Surveill. 2018;23(32):1800427. 10.2807/1560-7917.ES.2018.23.32.1800427 - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Young JJ, Haussig JM, Aberle SW, Pervanidou D, Riccardo F, Sekulić N, et al. Epidemiology of human West Nile virus infections in the European Union and European Union enlargement countries, 2010 to 2018. Euro Surveill. 2021;26(19):2001095. 10.2807/1560-7917.ES.2021.26.19.2001095 - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Barzon L, Montarsi F, Quaranta E, Monne I, Pacenti M, Michelutti A, et al. Early start of seasonal transmission and co-circulation of West Nile virus lineage 2 and a newly introduced lineage 1 strain, northern Italy, June 2022. Euro Surveill. 2022;27(29):2200548. 10.2807/1560-7917.ES.2022.27.29.2200548 - DOI - PMC - PubMed