West Nile, + 53% of cases in 7 days
The alert for West Nile virus infections in Italy rises. The cases have in fact increased by 53% in seven days, reaching 144, and the death toll is also heavier, with 11 deaths since June, the last of which is today. A pathology, which is spreading especially in northern Italy, which the Ministry of Health monitors carefully but which, however, infectious disease specialists warn, rarely leads to serious consequences.
Since the start of surveillance, at the beginning of June, the Usutu virus has also been identified in 58 mosquito pools and 7 birds in Emilia Romagna, Lombardy, Marche, Friuli Venezia Giulia, Umbria, Tuscany, Lazio and Veneto. The news of 4 Usutu virus infections in the Frosinone area was denied.
The spread of the virus is monitored by the Ministry of Health, which has just issued a new circular for “Prevention, surveillance and interventions in response to the circulation of West Nile disease and Usutu viruses”. We invite you to put in place, it says, “all measures useful to limit the risk of any further transmission to” humans and animals “, starting with” promptly reporting all probable and confirmed cases of human neuro-invasive disease ” .
The use of the anti West Nile vaccine is also recommended for horses – which can transmit the virus – which in the summer-autumn season are moved in areas where viral circulation is in progress (e.g. participation in sporting events and competitions in infected areas) . He invites the infectious disease specialist Roberto Cauda, of the Catholic University of Rome, to be careful but avoiding alarmism.
According to data from the Surveillance on West Nile and Usutu virus, carried out by the Istituto Superiore di Sanità, from the beginning of June until last August 9, 144 infections were reported, 50 more than 7 days ago with an increase of 53% . Four deaths in the last week, bringing the toll from the start of the season to 11 deaths: 6 in Veneto, 2 in Piedmont, 2 in Lombardy and 1 in Emilia-Romagna.
The latest death occurred today. It is a man from Brescia. He was one of the two most serious patients of the four Brescia cases and was hospitalized. Among the 144 cases of West Nile virus infections in humans, 87 showed neuro-invasive symptoms, 33 fever, 23 cases were identified in blood donors. Surveillance also confirmed the presence of the virus in animals: 121 pools of mosquitoes captured in Friuli Venezia Giulia, Veneto, Piedmont Emilia Romagna and Lombardy tested positive for the virus. 41 positive birds and 6 equid outbreaks were also identified. However, no positivity was found for West Nile in poultry farms. The first two Italian cases of human infection with Usutu virus, an arbovirus similar to the West Nile virus, were also identified in Friuli-Venezia Giulia. The two patients are asymptomatic.
The “increase in cases, he says” pushes to keep close monitoring and early recognition of new infections and, above all, indicates the need to implement remediation works in the area as soon as possible. However, it must be made clear that we are not talking about a serious disease like Covid-19. In this case, the first precaution is to protect oneself from mosquitoes, which are the carriers of the virus ”. This infection, he points out, “is in most cases benign and asymptomatic
. Only rarely, in about 0.1% of cases, does it present severe forms, especially if there are pre-existing pathologies “. The carriers of the virus, he recalls, “are mosquitoes but also wild birds and equidae; man is infected but the disease is not passed on from person to person “.