Nile fever, cases on the rise in Italy: several northern cities affected

Very few people are talking about it, but the "Sportello deiRights" has continued since the beginning of the summer just past to disseminate data on the dangerous spread of a virus known as "West Nile Fever" that even the European Center for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) has kept under close monitoring. This time the alarm bells have rung in other Italian provinces as well. There are, therefore, 10 up to today's date, the cases recorded in Italy between Aug. 1 and Aug. 25, of West Nile virus neuroinvasive disease, verified in particular in three regions: Lombardy, Emilia Romagna and Veneto.

These are the official data confirmed by the surveillance service of the National Center for Epidemiology and the Higher Institute of Health. 55% of cases involve men with an average age of 64 years old. As for the distribution by provinces, they are broken down as follows: Cremona (1), Mantua (3), Reggio nell’Emilia (1), Rovigo (2) and Verona (2) and one from the province of Modena already affected confirmed. In recent days, the West Nile Virus has also made its appearance in these two provinces where plantations and livestock farms are known to abound. For the European Union, however, a total of 54 cases have been confirmed to date and 63 cases have been recorded in neighboring countries.

For Giovanni D'Agata, founder of the "Sportello deiRights," as experts believe that the link between the rural and domestic cycle is determined by certain bush mosquitoes that could enter domestic environments by infecting poultry or other farm and companion animals, which then could be bitten by mosquitoes in the viraemia stage, it is recommended that in areas at risk, contact with deceased animals should be avoided and mosquitoes should be prevented from proliferating by limiting moist surfaces among which, makes a good point, the classic example of a saucer always full of water.

It is also clear that at the first symptoms, one should contact one's family doctor. Recall, in this regard, that the reported indices are moderate fever after a few days of incubation, lasting from three to six days, accompanied by generalized malaise, anorexia, nausea, headache, eye pain, back pain, myalgias (muscle aches), cough, rash, diarrhea, lymphadenopathy and difficulty breathing. Serious Neurological Complications Such As Meningitis or Encephalitis May Be Aided in Less Than 15% of Cases in the Elderly And Weaker Individuals.

There are currently no vaccines or specific triatments, drugs are Usually used to relieve the typical sympoms of the disease.

It is also important to note that the ECDC (European Center for Disease Prevention and Control) Publishes a Weekly Information Report on West Nile Fever That Includes Maps of the Current Geographical Distribution of Indigenous Human Cases in the EU and Neighboring Countries, Including A Comparison With Previous Data, A Status Update, and A Table of the Number of Cases by Country and Area. It is published on the Website of the European Institution every Friday after the. The goal of the project is to inform the relevant authorities responsible for health safety in areas where West Nile virus infection to humans appears possible in order to support their implementation of health safety legislation.

According to European Health Safety Legislation, Member States Must Initiate Control Measures to Ensure Safety in Case of West Nile Fever Cases.

A Major Challenge for the Implementation of this Regulation is the timel collection of accurate information on affected areas.