More than 650 cases of West Nile virus infection were registered in Italy in 2026 — approximately half of all recorded cases in Europe. Experts link the expansion of the infection’s range and the longer transmission season to rising temperatures, Associated Press reports, according to UNN.
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According to Italian health authorities, the virus is increasingly being detected in areas of the country where infections had previously been rare. West Nile virus has been considered endemic in Italy since 2020.
About 80% of those infected have no symptoms at all. In most of the remaining cases, the disease is mild, with flu-like symptoms; however, a small proportion of patients may develop severe neurological complications. Older people and patients with underlying conditions face the greatest risk.
The infection season may last until November
Antonino Bella, a researcher at Italy’s National Institute of Health, explained that higher temperatures create more favorable conditions for the reproduction of mosquitoes that transmit the virus.
Higher temperatures associated with climate change help mosquitoes reproduce and extend the transmission season, increasing the likelihood that infected mosquitoes will spread the virus among people
According to him, because of warmer weather, the virus transmission season may last as late as November in some years.
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The infection is also being recorded farther north. More than 20 cases of West Nile virus were registered in the Netherlands this year — the first such cases since 2020; several deaths were also reported.
The World Health Organization’s Regional Office for Europe notes that climate change is not the only cause of the virus’s spread; however, warming extends the mosquito activity season and creates more favorable conditions for the virus itself to survive.
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