The deadly West Nile virus is spreading throughout Europe as mosquitoes increase across the continent with global warming.
Cases of West Nile virus have increased by close to 50 per cent compared to last year, the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control's most recent data shows, with Italy and Greece accounting for three-quarters of occurrences.
The disease is also travelling north, with one person dying on Wednesday in hospital after contracting the virus in the Netherlands. Last week, the Dutch public health institution RIVM reported the first case of West Nile virus infection in the country since 2020.
The virus, which mostly spreads to people through mosquito bites, can cause life-threatening illness in about one in 150 people who are infected, according to the World Health Organisation.
The WHO has said warmer temperatures are giving mosquitoes more time and territory to spread the West Nile virus across Europe.
About 99 areas across 12 countries in Europe are affected by the West Nile Virus. Forty-six cases have been reported in Italy, 17 in Greece, 14 in Romania, and 8 in France. In August 2025, 67 areas and nine countries were impacted by the virus, according to the ECDC.
The West Nile virus is mainly transmitted by the Culex mosquito. Another carrier, the Asian tiger mosquito, which can infect people with dengue fever, has also made headway in Europe since the early 2000s.
France's national health agency said on Tuesday that it had detected the first case of locally contracted dengue in the Mediterranean city of Marseille and that mosquito control operations were being conducted in private gardens and streets near the infected person's living area.
Earlier this week German authorities said two airport workers had died after six staff were infected by the Anopheles mosquito imported by aircraft. The Robert Koch Institute has said heat could be a factor in local transmission, given the size of the outbreak, which started in early July. None of the workers had travelled to a malaria-risk country.
Climate change
Europe, which is warming more than twice as fast as the global average, has endured a scorching summer that has caused at least 35,000 excess deaths. The figures, which remain incomplete, are expected to rise. France, Spain and Germany alone have confirmed 25,000 excess deaths.
High temperatures returned to Italy on Friday, with 37°C expected in Rome and 46°C in Sicily. A heatwave has also hit Greece this week, with temperatures reaching 40°C in the north.
