The High Public Health Council (HCSP) has published the List of countries concerned By temporary contraindication or measures to screen for donors from products from the human body who stayed there, related to the West Nile virus (WNV). For the recordthis virus is transmitted to humans by mosquito bites, but also sometimes by blood transfusions or organ transplants. The majority of cases are asymptomatic, but neurological complications may occur, some of which cause the patient’s death.
The HCSP notes that on December 4, 2024, 19 European countries had reported 1,436 Aboriginal human cases of infections by the WNV. This is the largest number of the last 10 years, with the exception of 2018 (2,115 cases). They were accompanied by 125 deaths related to the infection. In addition, it has spread. Thus, in 2024, ” Albania, Czech Republic, Kosovo, Slovenia and Turkey had not reported any human case in the last 4 to 5 years. New regions have also been affected, especially in Italy and Greece. Any stay in one of these two countries is now considered to be at risk (with the exception of a stay in Crete).
The HCSP indicates that ” Despite the absence of notification, certain countries or certain regions with a transmission history are maintained or added on the list due to insufficient estimated data in matters of epidemiological monitoring. He recalls that the notification by the ECDC (European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control) Aboriginal human cases during the WNV traffic season (June to November), in an EU country or region not on the list, ” automatically triggers the addition of the country or the region concerned to this list. Consequently, the possibility of this addition obliges operators of transfusion and transplants to vigilance and prevention measures in the event of an effective addition on the list: in the event of a stay comprising at least one night in the country concerned, adjournment of 28 days of transfusion or transplant or search for WNV genome by unit PCR test.
Compared to the previous list (2024), several regions and countries were added this year. These are: in Germany, Basse-Saxe and Schleswig-Holstein, Armenia, Greece, Slovakia, Slovenia and Czechia.
