2014 West Nile fever season: ECDC launches weekly maps
Since last week ECDC has started collecting information about West Nile fever cases in Europe, for the 2014 transmission season. The first seasonal surveillance maps, published this week, present an overview of West Nile fever situation in Europe, as of 5 June 2014.
Each year during the West Nile fever transmission season, approximately June-November, ECDC provides weekly updates on the reported cases of West Nile fever in humans in the EU Member States and neighboring countries. The objective is to inform the competent authorities responsible for blood safety of areas with ongoing transmission in order to support their implementation of blood safety legislation. According to the EU blood safety legislation, the EU Member States must initiate control measures to ensure blood safety in the event of cases/outbreaks of West Nile fever.
ECDC committed to contribute to the implementation of the Directive by ensuring the timely collection and publication of accurate information about affected areas – a major challenge for the implementation of the regulation. For the current season, West Nile surveillance data is collected through: (1) real-time reporting performed by the European Union Member States and (2) systematic screening of cases reported in Europe performed by ECDC. (Read more about the West Nile fever maps)
The weekly report comprises maps showing the present geographical distribution of the reported autochthonous human cases in the EU and the neighbouring countries and its comparison with previous data; as well as a situation update and a table on the number of cases according to countries and areas. It is posted on the ECDC website every Friday afternoon – the information is based on cases reported up to the Thursday of each week.
As of 5 June 2014, no West Nile fever cases have been reported in EU Member States and neighboring countries, shows the latest update.
Weekly maps on West Nile fever cases in Europe
