In 2024, and as of 4 December 2024
, 19
countries in Europe have reported 1436 locally acquired1 human cases of WNV
infection with known place of infection. The earliest and latest date of
onset were respectively on 1 March 2024
and
25 October 2024
. Locally acquired cases were reported by
Italy (455), Greece (217),
Spain (138), Hungary (111),
Albania (106), Romania (99),
Türkiye (90), Serbia (63),
France (39), Austria (34),
Germany (27), Croatia (20),
Bulgaria (16), Slovakia (6),
Slovenia (5), Kosovo* (4),
Cyprus (2), Czechia (2) and
North Macedonia (2). In Europe, 125 deaths were
reported by Greece (34), Italy (21),
Romania (20), Spain (15),
Albania (13), Türkiye (7),
Hungary (5), Serbia (5),
Bulgaria (3), France (1) and
North Macedonia (1).
Case numbers reported this year are above the mean monthly case count for the past 10 years. During the same period in 2023, 802 cases were reported. However, numbers are lower than in 2018, when 2 115 cases had been reported by this time of year.
All 19 countries had reported human cases of WNV infections in the past. However, Albania, Czechia, Kosovo*, Slovenia and Türkiye have not reported any human cases in the past four to five years. In Albania, the outbreak in 2024 was the largest outbreak of WNV infections among humans ever detected in the country.
In addition, Poland reported its first locally acquired human case of WNV infection. This case was classified as a probable case. However, as information on the place of infection within the country was not reported to ECDC, this case was not included in the case count above.
In 2024, 212 regions across 19 countries have reported locally acquired human cases of WNV infection this year, compared to 137 regions in 2023 and 173 regions in 2018 during the same period. This is the largest geographical distribution of WNV ever reported in a year. The following regions have reported locally acquired human cases of WNV infection for the first time ever: Berat, Elbasan, Kavaje, Kucove, Kurbin, Lushnje, Vlore, Mallakaster, Kruje and Pogradec in Albania, Kardzhali in Bulgaria, Bjelovarsko-bilogorska županija in Croatia, Gard, Hérault, Pyrénées-Atlantiques and Guadeloupe in France, Diepholz, Oder-Spree, Jena Kreisfreie Stadt, Dithmarschen, Segeberg, Havelland, Jerichower Land, Börde and Bautzen in Germany, Thesprotia in Greece, Barletta-Andria-Trani, Benevento, Chieti, Roma, Firenze, Napoli and Caserta in Italy, Prishtinë, Prizren and Mitrovicë in Kosovo*, Pološki in North Macedonia, Trnavský kraj and Nitriansky kraj in Slovakia, Podravska in Slovenia, Málaga and Jaén in Spain, Edirne, Bursa, Osmaniye and Kirklareli and Tekirdag in Türkiye.
As observed in previous years, most cases are among men aged over 65 years. Severity indicators are comparable to those observed in previous years, with 91% of cases hospitalised, a case fatality rate of 9% and neurological manifestations in 68% of the cases. The dominance of neurological cases is expected, as cases with more severe symptoms are more likely to be diagnosed.
In addition, travel-associated cases from outside of the EU/EEA have been reported in travellers arriving from Albania, Angola, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Egypt, India, Kenya, Morocco, Oman, Tunisia, Türkiye, Uganda, the United Arab Emirates and the United States.
From the veterinary perspective, 494 WNV outbreaks among equids and
447 outbreaks among birds have been reported in Europe in
2024
. Outbreaks among equids have been reported by
Germany (177), France (83),
Spain (68), Austria (55),
Hungary (41), Italy (36),
Portugal (17), Croatia (8),
Poland (6) and Greece (3). Outbreaks
among birds have been reported by Italy (312),
Germany (80), Austria (20),
Spain (14), Slovenia (6),
France (5), Hungary (3),
Bulgaria (2), Croatia (2),
Poland (2) and Latvia (1). The
earliest and latest date of start of an outbreak among birds and/or
equids were respectively on 2 April 2024
and
25 November 2024
.
Due to the delay in diagnosis and reporting of cases of WNV infection, and that a majority of the WNV infections remain asymptomatic or pauci-symptomatic, the case numbers provided in this report are not a true representation of the actual number of cases. As in previous years, the peak of transmission was observed in August−September. As environmental conditions are no longer favourable for vector activity and virus replication in vectors, no more locally acquired WNV infections are expected in 2024.
This report is the last monthly report for 2024. The next monthly report is expected to be published upon occurrence of the first human cases in 2025, expected in June/July.
ECDC is conducting enhanced surveillance of West Nile virus (WNV) infections among humans, equids, and birds to assess the situation and inform public health and veterinary authorities in Europe about the current epidemiological status. This surveillance supports the competent authorities responsible for blood safety in implementing Commission Directives 2004/33/EC and 2014/110/EU, ensuring blood safety in the European Union.
The tables and maps in this report contain countries and areas where human cases of WNV infection and outbreaks among equids and birds were reported to The European Surveillance System (TESSy) and the Animal Disease Information System (ADIS), respectively.
ECDC provides a weekly report mapping the locally acquired WNV infections among humans in Europe2.
In addition, this monthly report provides a description of the epidemiological situation in humans, bird and equids in Europe.
Here we present the monthly report as of
4 December 2024
.
Table 1. Number of locally acquired human cases of
WNV infections reported within Europe in 2024
by reporting
country and region of infection (NUTS 3 or GAUL 1 level), as of
4 December 2024
.
When importing data.csv in MS Excel, please do not forget to select Unicode (UTF-8) as encoding.
Figure 1. Number of locally acquired human cases of
WNV infections reported within Europe in 2024
, by week and
as of 4 December 2024
.
Figure 2. Number of locally acquired human cases of
WNV infections reported within Europe in 2024
, by country
and as of 4 December 2024
.
Figure 3. Number of locally acquired human cases of
WNV infections reported within Europe in 2024
, by month ,
and during the previous 10 years, as of
4 December 2024
.
Figure 4. Distribution of locally acquired human
cases of WNV infections reported within Europe in 2024
, and
during the previous 10 years, as of 4 December 2024
.
Figure 5. Spatial distribution of locally acquired
human cases of WNV infections within Europe in 2024
by
NUTS3 or GAUL 1 regions, as of 4 December 2024
.
Figure 6. Spatial distribution of WNV outbreaks
among equids and/or birds in NUTS 3 regions in the EU/EEA during
2024
, as of 4 December 2024
.
Figure 7. Distribution of locally acquired human WNV
infections in NUTS 3 or GAUL 1 regions among equids and/or birds within
Europe during 2024
, as of 4 December 2024
.
Figure 8. Spatial distribution of locally acquired
human cases of WNV infections in NUTS3 or GAUL 1 regions within Europe
during 2024
, and during the last 10 years, as of
4 December 2024
.
Figure 9. Number of locally acquired human cases of
WNV infections reported within Europe in 2024
, by age group
and gender, as of 4 December 2024
.
Figure 10. Number of locally acquired human cases of
WNV infections reported within Europe in 2024
, by age group
and reporting country, as of 4 December 2024
.
Figure 11. Number of locally acquired human cases of
WNV infections reported within Europe in 2024
, by gender
and reporting country, as of 4 December 2024
.
Figure 12. Number of locally acquired human cases of
WNV infections reported within Europe in 2024
, by outcome,
as of 4 December 2024
.
Figure 13. Number of locally acquired human cases of
WNV infections reported within Europe in 2024
, by outcome
and reporting country, as of 4 December 2024
.
Figure 14. Number of locally acquired human cases of
WNV infections reported within Europe in 2024
, by
hospitalisation status, as of 4 December 2024
.
Figure 15 . Number of locally acquired human cases
of WNV infections reported within Europe in 2024
, by
hospitalisation status and reporting country, as of
4 December 2024
.
Figure 16. Number of locally acquired human cases of
WNV infections reported within Europe in 2024
, by clinical
manifestations, as of 4 December 2024
.
Figure 17. Number of locally acquired human cases of
WNV infections reported within Europe in 2024
, by clinical
manifestations and reporting country, as of
4 December 2024
.
Figure 18. Number of WNV outbreaks among equids
reported in the EA/EEA in 2024
, by week and as of
4 December 2024
.
Figure 19. Number of WNV outbreaks in birds reported
within Europe in 2024
, by week and as of
4 December 2024
.
Figure 20. Number of WNV outbreaks among equids
and/or birds reported within Europe in 2024
and during the
previous 10 years, by month as of 4 December 2024
.
Download the dataset for West Nile virus surveillance. When importing data.csv in MS Excel, please do not forget to select Unicode (UTF-8) as encoding.
Locally acquired cases refer to cases acquired within the reporting country.↩︎
*This designation is without prejudice to positions on status and is in line with UNSCR 1244/1999 and the ICJ Opinion on the Kosovo declaration of independence.
↩︎