West Nile virus: Another victim in Lazio, death toll rises to 8

Eighth West Nile virus death today in Lazio . An 80-year-old man, resident of Aprilia, died this morning in the intensive care unit of the Santa Maria Goretti Hospital in Latina. The patient, with comorbidities, had been hospitalized at the Pontine hospital for approximately three weeks.

These days, with clusters of West Nile cases in Lazio and Campania, the spotlight in Italy is on the Culex pipiens mosquito, the classic nocturnal pest, common throughout Europe. It is the main vector of the West Nile virus.

The mosquito map compiled by the EU agency ECDC (Centre for Disease Prevention and Control) speaks clearly: the graph showing the current distribution of the Culex pipiens family shows the Old Continent dotted with red spots, indicating its widespread presence. In the latest available update, countries like Italy and France are almost entirely colored, except for small gray patches indicating regions for which data had simply not been reported. And it is precisely because of its widespread presence that, for example, in Italy, stringent surveillance has been in place for years, allowing for the timely detection of any infected West Nile mosquitoes in this buzzing population.

But each mosquito has its own disease: the ECDC, through its focus groups, photographs the risks for each species and monitors the increase in bite infections. Here are the main "transport vehicles" that pathogens could use to travel to the EU: one of the first items on the list of major vectors of concern for Europe is obviously the Aedes albopictus, the tiger mosquito, an invasive species well established in Italy, which can transmit the dengue, chikungunya, and Zika viruses.

The EU's list of vectors under special observation includes, in addition to the aforementioned Culex pipiens, Aedes aegypti, which also spreads the yellow fever virus. All these species, as the ECDC notes, "are expanding throughout Europe." Aedes albopictus, for example, is currently present in 16 countries and 369 regions, compared to 114 regions about 10 years ago. Meanwhile, Aedes aegypti, once eliminated from Europe, has reemerged in Cyprus.

Meanwhile, Culex pipiens continues to allow widespread transmission of West Nile virus, especially during the summer and early autumn. This is "a time when Europe is facing longer and more intense mosquito seasons due to climate change," the EU agency noted. And the pathogens carried by these vectors are making themselves felt more frequently. For example, last year, dengue cases in the region showed a marked increase compared to previous years. West Nile virus infections also showed a significant increase, with infections spreading across 212 regions in 19 countries. Furthermore, in 2025, outbreaks of locally acquired chikungunya virus disease in France, with symptoms beginning in late May or June, highlighted a very early start to the mosquito season.

Overall, these data "underscore the growing geographic spread and public health impact of mosquito-borne diseases in Europe," noted the ECDC, which has intensified its attention to these risks since July and, with the arrival of mosquito season, launched a new series of weekly surveillance updates to help public health authorities promptly monitor mosquito-borne diseases. The focus is on Chikungunya, Dengue, Zika, and West Nile viruses, with the aim of providing a comprehensive overview of the evolving situation in European countries.