West Nile Virus in Europe (Update 3)
03 Sep 2018
The European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) 
reports as of 30 August 2018, there have been 978 cases of West Nile virus disease (WNV) in people in European countries. Of these, 710 in EU/EEA Member States and 265 in neighbouring countries.
Italy has reported 327 cases, Serbia 213, Greece 147, Romania 117, Hungary 96, Israel 49, France 11, Austria 8, Croatia 3, Kosovo 3 and Slovenia 1.
There have been 64 deaths: Serbia 21, Greece 16, Italy 13, Romania 12, France 1 and Kosovo 1.
This year’s total so far represents a 3.4-fold increase in number of WNV infections compared to all of 2017.
Advice for Travellers
There is no vaccine against WNV.
Travellers should practice Mosquito Bite Avoidance when visiting areas experiencing an outbreak of WNV. These outbreaks will be listed on the destination pages of fitfortravel. Medical advice can be sought if symptoms develop following travel to a risk area.
Note for blood donors: If you have travelled to an area with WNV in the past 4 months you may need to be tested for WNV before donating blood. All travel must be mentioned to the Blood Transfusion Service so that they can determine whether you need to be tested. The Scottish National Blood Transfusion Service have produced a leaflet which details information about blood donation after travel:
For further information see West Nile Fever.