Overview
- Greece's health authority has recorded 157 West Nile infections and 13 deaths since January, a total that on Aug. 20 reflected a near fourfold increase from late July.
- The European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control says locally acquired cases have been reported in 12 European countries, with Italy (311) and Greece (157) the largest totals.
- Most Greek infections have been found in the greater Athens area and epidemiologists have urged people to use repellents and other steps to avoid mosquito bites.
- The World Health Organization and national bodies remind the public that about 80 percent of infections cause no symptoms, fewer than 1 percent cause severe brain or spinal inflammation, and no human vaccine or specific antiviral treatment exists.
- ECDC experts call for expanded, cross‑border mosquito surveillance and integrated control that limits environmental harm, noting that invasive species such as the Asian tiger mosquito have widened their European range and can raise transmission risk.