Fleas are ectoparasitic blood-sucking insects with the ability to jump, which commonly infest wild and domestic animals (mainly dogs and cats) but also humans.
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.
The European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) and the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) kindly invite you to join a webinar on West Nile virus and Usutu virus infections among humans and animals, with a focus on the situation in the European Union.
The European public health and blood authorities responded to the threat posed by West Nile virus to blood safety of blood and blood components by adopting preventive measures which are defined in the EU blood legislation, professional guides of the Council of Europe and the EU WNV blood transfusion preparedness plan. The measures include the deferral of blood donors that have visited or residing in a NUTS 3 area considered to be affected (i.e. with at least one confirmed case).