West Nile virus in Europe in 2020 - human cases compared to previous seasons, updated 12 November 2020

Between 6 and 12 November 2020, EU Member States reported no new human cases of WNV infection and no deaths through TESSy. EU neighbouring countries also did not report any human cases of WNV infection.

On 11 November, Dutch health authorities reported that a total of seven people in the Netherlands were diagnosed with West Nile virus infections this year. One patient contracted WNV in the Arnhem region, the others were infected in the Utrecht region. The five newly reported patients in the Utrecht region all became infected in the months of July or August. The patient from the Arnhem region, only contracted the virus in October. This is remarkable, because the mosquito season is almost over. As the case from Arnhem region has not been reported through TESSy yet, it is currently not represented on the maps and in the Surveillance Atlas.

Since the start of the 2020 transmission season and as of 12 November 2020, EU Member States have reported 315 human cases of WNV infection, including 36 deaths, through TESSy: Greece (143, including 22 deaths), Spain (77, including 7 deaths), Italy (66, including 5 deaths), Germany (13), Romania (6, including 1 death), the Netherlands (6), Hungary (3) and Bulgaria (1, including 1 death). The province of Pazardzhik in Bulgaria, the province of Badajoz in Spain, the region of Utrecht in the Netherlands and five regions in Germany (Barnim, Ostprignitz-Ruppin, Saalekreis, Halle (Saale) and Meissen) reported locally-acquired human cases of WNV infection for the first time. All other cases reported through TESSy were reported from areas that have been affected during previous transmission seasons.
EU neighbouring countries reported 17 human cases of WNV infection, all were reported by Israel.