A 72-year-old man has died from West Nile virus infection at Caserta Hospital, where he was receiving treatment. This marks the fourth fatality in Italy’s Campania region and the eighth nationwide. The elderly patient from Maddaloni in Caserta province had pre-existing health conditions and complex clinical complications. Notably, one other of Campania’s four victims also resided in Maddaloni.
Meanwhile, Lombardy reported two new locally acquired West Nile cases, involving a 38-year-old woman in Milan and a 66-year-old woman in Pavia. Only the latter remains hospitalized, as confirmed by Lombardy regional authorities to ANSA.
Lombardy’s West Nile surveillance and containment strategy employs an integrated system coordinated among regional agencies, local health authorities (Ats), municipalities, and the Experimental Zooprophylactic Institute. Veterinary departments conduct entomological monitoring, wild bird surveillance, and equine testing. Carbon dioxide-baited traps—deployed at georeferenced sites selected by entomologists—capture vector species. Mosquitoes collected biweekly are sorted into species-specific pools for molecular analysis at the Institute. Upon viral detection in any trap, immediate restrictions activate, including enhanced screening of donated blood, organs, and tissues within the affected province and adjacent 5-kilometer zones.
Epidemiologist Antonello Maruotti of LUMSA University stated to Rainews.it that Italy’s West Nile cases are rising: “The peak is expected after mid-August, followed by a rapid decline.” Historically concentrated in Emilia-Romagna and Veneto, infections this year disproportionately affect Lazio (notably Latina province) and Campania. Maruotti emphasized the anomaly, noting past annual cases exceeded 550 (2018) and 460 (2022). Current data indicates infections will continue climbing in coming weeks, aligning with the typical trend of late-July surges peaking by late August before sharply decreasing.
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