The Cripticism of data: West Nile in Italy and the 2026 information blackout
West Nile virus (WNV) has been endemic in Italy for nearly three decades, with the country consistently reporting the highest number of human neuroinvasive disease cases in Europe.1 Yet in 2026, while the virus continues its geographic expansion with Italy accounting for the majority of locally acquired cases and West Nile neuroinvasive disease in Europe,2 citizens and healthcare professionals find themselves navigating an information void. Data on human infections, geographic distribution, and epidemiological trends must be pieced together from aggregated reports published by the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) and the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA).
Authors
- Fabio Scarpa (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3501-714X)
- Giancarlo Ceccarelli (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5921-3180)
- Francesco Branda (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9485-3877)
- Massimo Ciccozzi (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3866-9239)
Institutions
- Università Campus Bio-Medico (IT)
- University of Sassari (IT)
- Institut thématique Génétique, génomique et bioinformatique (FR)
Publication Details
- Journal
- The Lancet Regional Health - Europe
- Published
- 2026-08-21
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.1016/j.lanepe.2026.101827
- Primary Topic
- Mosquito-borne diseases and control
- Type
- article
- Field-Weighted Citation Impact
- 0.00