In the Northeast, the West Nile virus is present in 1% of mosquitoes – News – Ansa.it

The presence of West Nile virus in mosquitoes sampled in Veneto and Friuli Venezia Giulia is about 1%. This is what appears from the latest data expressed by the laboratory of health psychology and vector-borne pathogens of the Istituto Zooprophylattico Sperimentale delle Venezie (Izsve).

Although the distribution of the virus in mosquitoes is moderate – the institute specifies in a note – the risk to human health should not be underestimated. According to the latest bulletin in Veneto, there are actually eight cases of neuroinvasive West Nile and four of West Nile fever, but the numbers could increase in the coming weeks as the heat summer continues.

The Izsve entomological study includes the use of 92 traps to catch mosquitoes, between Veneto (64) and Friuli Venezia Giulia (28). An investigation began in May and will continue until October. The traps take place one night every 15 days for each site, in an alternate way, so that traps are active every week for each province.

As of August 5, in Veneto out of 1,659 pools of mosquitoes examined, 22 were found positive for WNV (1.33%) and 2 for Usutu Virus, while in Friuli Venezia Giulia there were 2 positive pools out of 245 (0.82%); they all consisted of Culex pipiens, the common mosquito.

The situation is different for Dengue fever, a disease transmitted by the tiger mosquito, with the largest number of cases in Italy (283), but all are imported. In Veneto the incidence has quadrupled compared to 2023, with 55 cases, and the regional journal also reports cases of Zika (2), Chikungunya (1) and Oropouche fever (1), also from abroad.

“Fortunately this year – mentions Zooprophylactic Director, Antonia Ricci – the spread of West Nile is very limited, even if the attention of the health authorities is always very high after the recent cases in Padua and Pordenone. Unlike the cases of Dengue, Chikungunya and Zika reported in people returning from travel abroad, especially in South America and tropical countries, the West Nile virus is endemic in our area and therefore the probability of catching the disease is higher Therefore it is important to adopt the correct habits to avoid mosquito bites in this way it is possible to reduce the risk of infection, especially for categories of vulnerable people such as the elderly and immunocompromised “.