Animal Disease Situation

West Nile Virus (WNV) was first detected in 1937 in the West Nile district of Uganda. In Europe, it first appeared in France in the early 1960s. So far, infections in humans, horses and birds have been reported especially from southern and southeastern European countries. WNV occurs on all continents. It first appeared in the USA in 1999 and spread within a short time throughout the country and as far as Canada.

In Germany, the first bird infected with WNV was found at the end of August 2018, a barred owl kept in an aviary in Halle a. d. Saale. By the end of the year, a total of 12 cases had been detected in birds and two in horses. In 2019, the national reference laboratory for WNV infections detected the first official case in early July, followed by more than 100 additional cases (36 horses and 76 wild and zoo birds) by the end of the year. In autumn 2019, the virus was also detected for the first time in Germany in Culex pipiens complex mosquitoes, which are known to be vectors. It has also been shown that WNV can successfully overwinter in native mosquitoes in Germany.

Since 2020, the first cases of infection in zoo and wild birds have always occurred in early to mid July. In the following years, West Nile virus spread slowly but steadily across the country. The federal states of Berlin, Brandenburg, Saxony-Anhalt and Saxony, which are currently the main epidemic area in Germany, are particularly affected. Other areas of distribution can be found on the latest FLI maps.

Horse owners should follow the vaccination recommendations of the Standing Veterinary Vaccination Commission (StIKo Vet; German language only) to protect their animals.

Recorded and confirmed case numbers for 2020–2023  

Since 2019, individual human cases of the disease and evidence from blood donors have also been regularly recorded. The Robert Koch Institute provides information on its website and in the Epidemiological Bulletin (German language only) for each year.