Large Human Outbreak of West Nile Virus Infection in North-Eastern Italy in 2012

Abstract

Human cases of West Nile virus (WNV) disease have been reported in Italy since 2008. So far, most cases have been identified in north-eastern Italy, where, in 2012, the largest outbreak of WNV infection ever recorded in Italy occurred. Most cases of the 2012 outbreak were identified in the Veneto region, where a special surveillance plan for West Nile fever was in place. In this outbreak, 25 cases of West Nile neuroinvasive disease and 17 cases of fever were confirmed. In addition, 14 WNV RNA-positive blood donors were identified by screening of blood and organ donations and two cases of asymptomatic infection were diagnosed by active surveillance of subjects at risk of WNV exposure. Two cases of death due to WNND were reported. Molecular testing demonstrated the presence of WNV lineage 1 in all WNV RNA-positive patients and, in 15 cases, infection by the novel Livenza strain was ascertained. Surveillance in other Italian regions notified one case of neuroinvasive disease in the south of Italy and two cases in Sardinia. Integrated surveillance for WNV infection remains a public health priority in Italy and vector control activities have been strengthened in areas of WNV circulation.

Molecular epidemiology of hepatitis C virus genotypes and subtypes among injecting drug users in Hungary

“…Surveillance and response system weaknesses were exposed by the pandemic and have been identified in a number of evaluation reports 19,20 . Surveillance for severe disease due to influenza was already known to be not well developed in Europe as elsewhere, and attempts to establish new systems during the pandemic were only of limited success.…”

“…A major test of European countries' individual and collective ability to strengthen infection surveillance will be the extent to which the many 'lessons learnt' are implemented 16,19,20 . Most of the needed enhancements will need to be integrated into routine surveillance arrangements for seasonal influenza.…”

“…Most of the needed enhancements will need to be integrated into routine surveillance arrangements for seasonal influenza. This is both because of the information provided each season, but also because the experience that systems implemented for the first time during the pandemic under public health emergency conditions generally did not work well 20 . Equally, there was a general inability to undertake essential research and development work in a timely manner during the pandemic and the immediate period thereafter 4,6,10,16,21 .…”

“…There is wide variation in reported rates of confirmed cases within the EU, ranging from less than one per 100 000 in Belgium, Cyprus, Greece, Hungary, Malta, the Netherlands, Portugal, Romania and Slovenia; to much higher rates in Norway (48 per 100 000), Iceland (32), Ireland (28), Sweden (24), Finland (20) and the United Kingdom (18).…”

Investigation of West Nile virus among healthy blood donors in the western part of Turkey

“…During July-November 2010, 8 cases were reported from İzmir and the incidence was 0.21 per 100,000 population (16). That same year, human WNV disease was reported to the European Center for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) from neighboring countries as follows: Greece, 262 probable and confirmed cases (17); Russian Federation, 448 cases (18); Romania, 57 cases (19); and Italy, 6 cases (20). In 2011, 3 probable and 2 confirmed cases of WNV infections were identified in Turkey from the same provinces that were affected by WNV in 2010 (16).…”