West Nile virus outbreaks among equids and birds, 2022 transmission season

In 2022, nine EU/EEA countries reported 101 outbreaks among equids and 328 outbreaks among birds.

Outbreaks among equids were reported by Italy (47), Germany (16), Greece (9), Spain (8), Croatia (8), France (6), Hungary (3), Portugal (3), and Austria (1). These were more than twice as many outbreaks reported as for 2021, but only around half and one third of reported outbreaks for 2020 and 2018, respectively. In Italy, this was the highest number of outbreaks reported since 2018. Outbreaks among birds were reported by Italy (260), Germany (53), Spain (9), Austria (3), Croatia (2), and Hungary (2). With the exception of Portugal, all these countries also reported human WNV infections in 2022.