ECDC launches 2012 West Nile fever mapsArchived

ECDC starts publishing today the West Nile fever maps for the 2012 transmission season.

The weekly report comprises maps showing the present geographical distribution of the reported autochthonous human cases in EU and the neighbouring countries and its comparison to 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 – the information is based on cases reported up to the Thursday of each week.

In 2012 the West Nile maps have been improved with further information - based on recommendations from the expert review meeting in November 2011, national authorities and ECDC experts:

• definition of terms (e.g. ‘affected areas’, ‘West Nile fever’) and EU case definition
• new map combining historical and current data, updated every week
• updated table on cases: shows not only confirmed, but also probable cases with laboratory positive test for a probable case and gives population estimates for affected areas
• historical data for 2011 and 2010

  In 2011, ECDC monitored the West Nile fever situation during the transmission season (June to November) in the EU Member States and neighbouring countries. 130 probable and confirmed autochthonous cases were detected in the EU and 207 in neighbouring countries. The cases reported in the EU included 69 confirmed and 31 probable cases from Greece, 14 confirmed and two probable cases from Italy, 10 confirmed cases and one probable case from Romania and three confirmed cases from Hungary. In the neighbouring countries, cases have been notified in Albania, the Fformer Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, Israel, the Russian Federation, Tunisia, Turkey and Ukraine. For a more detailed overview, including the regional level, please see the West Nile map 2011.

The objective of the project is to inform the competent authorities responsible for blood safety of areas with ongoing transmission of West Nile virus to humans 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, a major challenge to the implementation of this regulation being the timely collecting of accurate information about affected areas. (read more about the West Nile fever maps)