West Nile virus is a mosquito-borne flavivirus that is maintained in an enzootic cycle between mosquitoes and birds. Humans and horses are incidental dead-end hosts.
Sindbis virus is widely and continuously found in insects (the main vectors are Culex and Culiseta mosquitoes) and vertebrates in Eurasia, Africa, and Oceania. ECDC factsheet for health professionals
Several viral and bacterial respiratory pathogens are expected to continue co-circulating at variable levels during the coming months, and contribute to increased morbidity and mortality during this period. This is typical of every winter season.
ECDC urges EU/EEA Member States to strengthen vaccination campaigns and prepare for the possible need to increase emergency department and ICU capacity, as well as to consider a number of public health measures to reduce the impact of respiratory pathogens circulating this winter, in latest epidemiological update.
ECDC initiated a survey of EU/EEA countries to evaluate preparedness planning and risk mitigation initiatives implemented at the country level for people exposed to highly pathogenic avian influenza virus A(H5N1).
This protocol sets out measures for the follow-up and management of individuals exposed to infected animals and human cases of avian influenza, and for the public health management of possible and confirmed human cases.
To assess the level of preparedness of EU/EEA Member States to respond to zoonotic avian flu outbreaks, ECDC has carried out two surveys - one assessing the laboratory capacity for molecular diagnosis and characterisation of zoonotic influenza viruses, and the other focusing on measures applied to protect exposed people during outbreaks of highly pathogenic avian influenza.
Campylobacteriosis and salmonellosis were the most frequently reported zoonotic diseases in humans in the EU in 2022. For West Nile virus, an increase of the number of infections was observed.