West Nile fever maps, 13 September 2012: 21 new cases in the EU and 61 in neighbouring countriesArchived

Twenty one new human cases of West Nile fever have been reported for the EU and 61 for its neighbourhood over the past week.

Eleven new cases were reported in Greece by the Hellenic Centre for Disease Control and Prevention (KEELPNO). Two probable cases come from the newly affected prefecture of Drama. Nine cases were found in areas with previous case reports: Achaia (1), Chalkidiki (1), Kavala (3), Thessaloniki (1), Xanthi (3) (See the  KEELPNO Weekly bulletin for more information). New cases and affected areas in Greece are not unexpected given that since 2010 there has been progressive geographical expansion of West Nile virus transmission throughout the country, as stated in the recently published ECDC risk assessment on the epidemiological situation of West Nile fever in Greece.

In Italy, 9 new confirmed cases have been reported (2 from the newly affected province of Vicenza and 7 from Venezia, a province with previous case reports) and in Romania - one new confirmed case (from Bucuresti municipality, Bucharest, an area with previous case reports).

In neighbouring countries, for the first time this year Croatia has reported three autochthonous cases, from two counties, Osjecko-baranjska (2) and Vukovarsko-srijemska (1). 43 new cases have been found in Russia and 15 new cases - in Serbia.

Every Friday ECDC publishes on its website the West Nile fever maps, the information being based on cases reported up to the Thursday of each week.