Greece urged to strengthen early warning system as West Nile cases surge
Greece is facing one of its most serious West Nile virus outbreaks in recent years, with more than 200 patients developing infections affecting the central nervous system and the death toll reaching double digits.
With weather conditions remaining favorable for mosquito transmission, the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control expects further cases to emerge in the coming weeks.
Experts are now calling for Greece to strengthen its monitoring and early-warning mechanisms to identify outbreak hotspots before infections begin spreading widely.
Spraying alone not enough
Petros Ligoxygakis, professor of innate immunology at the University of Oxford, told the Athens-Macedonian News Agency that mosquito spraying alone cannot adequately contain the threat.
“Spraying alone is not enough,” Ligoxygakis said, stressing that it must be combined with continuous monitoring of mosquito populations and breeding sites.
He said mosquito-control measures should begin months before the first human case is detected, with authorities identifying areas where mosquitoes are likely to breed.
Systematic monitoring of mosquito populations is already carried out in Greece, but Ligoxygakis said the information should be used more effectively to determine when and where the risk of transmission is increasing.
From monitoring cases to predicting outbreaks
The expert said Greece should move beyond simply recording infections and develop a system capable of predicting outbreaks.
Such a system could combine data on temperature, rainfall, stagnant water, mosquito populations, the presence of the virus in mosquitoes, previous human cases, population immunity and potential animal reservoirs such as birds.
An integrated early-warning system could identify areas at greatest risk and allow authorities to intervene before infections begin to spread among the population.
Most infections show no symptoms
Ligoxygakis stressed that the number of recorded cases represents only a small proportion of the virus’s actual spread.
Around 80% of infections are estimated to be asymptomatic, while fewer than 1% develop into severe disease affecting the central nervous system.
Patients requiring hospitalization therefore represent only “the tip of a very large iceberg,” he said.
Older people face greater risk
Older people are particularly vulnerable to severe West Nile virus infection because of age-related changes in the immune system.
As people age, immune cells responsible for fighting viral infections are not replenished as effectively, increasing susceptibility to West Nile virus and other viral diseases.
Researchers also want to determine whether the virus has become endemic in Greece. Ligoxygakis called for epidemiological studies and antibody testing among the population to establish how widely the virus has circulated.
Potential model for Europe
Ligoxygakis said Greece has the scientific expertise and resources needed to develop a comprehensive early-warning system.
Such a system could also have wider European significance, as West Nile virus poses growing risks in other southern European countries, including Italy, France and Spain.
The aim, he said, should be to identify where an outbreak is likely to occur before people begin falling ill, giving health authorities more time to take preventive action.
Source:AMNA
