1,855 cases in 18 countries, and six new areas added this week
What happened
Europe's West Nile virus season is still running, and the latest figures were published on Friday 9 October 2026. The numbers come from the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control, which publishes a weekly report on communicable disease threats. The figures below are as at 7 October 2026. Since the start of this year's transmission season, 208 areas affected by West Nile virus have been identified in 18 countries across Europe. Those 18 countries have reported 1,855 locally acquired human cases. Six of those 208 areas were reported as affected for the first time this season in the latest week alone. The season is not over. The spread by country is uneven. Italy has the most affected areas with 67, followed by France with 26, Greece with 25 and Romania with 24. The Netherlands has 15, Serbia 10, Belgium and Spain 6 each, Croatia and North Macedonia 5 each, Hungary and Kosovo 4 each, Austria and Germany 3 each, Albania and Bulgaria 2 each, and Cyprus 1. That list includes several countries people do not associate with mosquito-borne illness at all. The ECDC's own assessment is that seasonal weather conditions are currently favourable for mosquito-borne transmission of the virus, and that more cases are expected to occur in the coming weeks. 'Locally acquired' matters here. These are people who caught the virus in the country where they were, not travellers who brought it from somewhere else.
Why this matters
West Nile virus is spread by mosquitoes, usually from infected birds. People do not pass it to each other through normal contact. Most people who get it do not know they have had it. Around four in five infections cause no symptoms at all. Of those who do become unwell, most have a fever, headache, body aches, sometimes a rash, and recover. A small minority develop serious neurological illness affecting the brain or spinal cord. That is rare, but it can be severe, and the risk is higher for people over 50 and people with weakened immune systems or certain long-term conditions. There is no vaccine for humans and no specific antiviral treatment. Care is supportive. That is precisely why prevention matters more here than it does for illnesses you can be vaccinated against. There is also a reason this report exists in the form it does, and it is a slightly surprising one: blood safety. Under EU rules, blood services in European countries must apply a temporary deferral for people donating blood for 28 days after they leave an area with locally acquired West Nile virus, unless an individual test is negative. The ECDC's weekly mapping of affected areas is what blood services use to apply that rule. So if you have been in an affected area and you give blood, this is directly relevant to you. UK donation rules on travel are set by the UK blood services, so check with them.
What the evidence actually says
Some perspective, because large numbers in a disease report can read as more alarming than they are. The 1,855 figure covers a whole continent across an entire transmission season, in countries with a combined population of hundreds of millions. For any individual traveller spending a week somewhere, the chance of infection is low. The case count also under-represents infections rather than exaggerating them. Because roughly four in five infections cause no symptoms, confirmed cases are the visible part of a much larger number of people who were infected and never knew. The '208 affected areas' figure is about where the virus has been detected, not about risk level. An area on the list is not a place to avoid; it is a place to use insect repellent in. It is also worth separating West Nile from the other mosquito-borne illnesses in the same report, which get confused in coverage. In the same week, ECDC reported 146 locally acquired chikungunya cases in France and one in Italy, and 68 locally acquired dengue cases in Italy with six in France. Those are different viruses, spread by different mosquitoes, with different patterns. West Nile is by far the most widespread of the three in Europe. And the ECDC is explicit that more cases are expected in the coming weeks. Autumn travel to southern Europe is not automatically outside the season.
Qurexa perspective
One small, genuinely useful point from a pharmacy perspective, because it affects people who need it most. The people at higher risk of serious illness from West Nile virus overlap heavily with the people who take regular medicines: those over 50, people with weakened immune systems, people with long-term conditions. They are also the people for whom running out of medicine abroad is the bigger problem. So if you are in that group and travelling to southern or central Europe this autumn, do two things in the same conversation with your pharmacist: ask about insect bite prevention, and sort your medicine supply for the trip. Repellent and repeat prescriptions are not usually discussed together, but for this group they belong in the same five minutes. Pharmacists can advise on which repellents are suitable alongside your medicines and skin conditions, and on whether anything you take raises your sensitivity to sun or bites. It is a free conversation and it is the most qualified advice most people can get without an appointment.
Practical advice
Bite prevention is the whole strategy, and it is simple. Use an insect repellent containing DEET at 50% strength, which is what the NHS and UK travel health services recommend for areas with mosquito-borne disease. Apply it to exposed skin, and reapply as the label says. Put sunscreen on first and repellent over the top. The mosquitoes that carry West Nile virus bite mainly from dusk to dawn. Cover up in the evenings: long sleeves, long trousers, socks. This is the single most effective thing after repellent. Sleep with windows closed or screened, or use air conditioning. A mosquito net is worth it if your accommodation is not screened. Get rid of standing water near where you are staying if you can. Buckets, plant pot saucers, blocked gutters and paddling pools are all breeding sites, and the mosquitoes that matter breed close to where they bite. If you develop a fever, severe headache, a stiff neck, confusion or weakness after returning from an affected area, see a doctor and tell them where you have been. That travel history is the detail that makes the diagnosis possible. If you give blood, check the current travel deferral rules with your blood service before you book a donation. In the UK that is NHS Blood and Transplant in England, or the equivalent service in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. And check TravelHealthPro for country-specific advice before you go. It is free, it is run by the National Travel Health Network and Centre, and it is more current than any guidebook.
What to know
As at 7 October 2026, ECDC reported 1,855 locally acquired human cases of West Nile virus in 18 European countries this season, across 208 affected areas. Six areas were newly affected in the latest week. Italy leads with 67 affected areas, then France with 26, Greece with 25 and Romania with 24. ECDC says conditions remain favourable for transmission and expects more cases in the coming weeks. Around four in five infections cause no symptoms. Most people who do fall ill have a fever and recover. A small minority develop serious neurological illness, with higher risk for people over 50 and those with weakened immune systems. There is no human vaccine and no specific treatment. For an individual traveller the risk is low, but prevention is the only tool: 50% DEET repellent, cover up from dusk to dawn, screened or air-conditioned rooms, and remove standing water. If you donate blood, EU rules require a 28-day deferral after leaving an affected area unless an individual test is negative. Check your own blood service's rules. See a doctor and mention your travel if you develop fever, severe headache, stiff neck, confusion or weakness after returning. Sources: European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control, "Weekly Communicable Disease Threats Report, Week 41, 3-9 October 2026", published 9 October 2026, https://www.ecdc.europa.eu/sites/default/files/documents/communicable-disease-threats-report-week-41-2026.pdf ; ECDC, West Nile virus seasonal surveillance, https://www.ecdc.europa.eu/en/west-nile-fever ; NHS, "West Nile virus", https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/west-nile-virus/ ; NaTHNaC, TravelHealthPro, https://travelhealthpro.org.uk/ This article is for general information and does not replace advice from a doctor, pharmacist or other qualified healthcare professional. Seek travel health advice before travelling, and medical advice promptly if you become unwell after a trip.
Related articles
Twenty separate flare-ups: the French mosquito season nobody expected
France has had an unusual mosquito season, and the figures are now in. Santé publique France, the country's public health agency, published its enhanced survei…
Fever, rash and sore joints: a northern virus turns up in Germany
The European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control has reported something that had not happened before: Germany's first known case of symptomatic Sindbis vi…
259 of them in one county: the dengue you can catch in Florida
On 12 October 2026, the UK's National Travel Health Network and Centre – the service behind TravelHealthPro – added dengue in the United States to its outbreak…