West Nile in Rome, 7 deaths in Lazio. First death in Calabria and a case in Basilicata

The West Nile virus has arrived in Rome, where a first positive case has reportedly been detected at the Spallanzani: a woman, with no connection to Agro Pontino, the area most affected. Two victims in a few hours in Lazio, for a total of 7 deaths, due to the West Nile virus, 16 throughout Italy (the last ones still not notified in the national platform), while the cases continue to rise at a fast pace, from 89 in the last bulletin of the Higher Institute of Health at the end of July to 173 total infections recorded since the beginning of 2025. The first death also occurred in Calabria in the Reggino area: it was a man of about 80 years of age, who was admitted to the infectious diseases ward of the Gom of Reggio Calabria in recent days. Lastly, the local health authority of Matera reports the first case of an infected person in Basilicata, a 60-year-old man living in a rural area in the municipality of Pisticci, who is currently hospitalised at the Murgia 'Perinei' hospital in Altamura, Puglia.

On 12 August, as Minister Orazio Schillaci announced in his briefing to the Senate Social Affairs Committee, a delegation from the Health Department will be in Latina for a meeting with the local authorities. One of the last two victims recorded in Lazio is an 83-year-old woman from Pontinia, who died at the Santa Maria Goretti Hospital in Latina. The woman had arrived in the emergency room on 24 July. Admitted to intensive care in serious condition due to multiple concomitant diseases, she died in the intensive care unit. The seventh victim in the region is a 77-year-old man who died at the Gemelli Isola Tiberina Hospital. Already undergoing dialysis, he had been in intensive care since 26 July. He was resident in Velletri, and was exposed to the virus in Cisterna di Latina. In Lazio, there were 94 positive cases, 21 of which were new cases as of 4 August, mainly in the province of Latina (Aprilia, Cisterna di Latina, Latina, Norma, Pontinia, Sezze and Terracina), in addition to positive cases found in Lanuvio and Nettuno in the province of Rome.

The situation "is being carefully monitored by all the competent institutions, both at a central and territorial level," says Anna Teresa Palamara, who heads the department of infectious diseases at the Iss, emphasising that "at the moment there are no particular signs of alarm". And the expert renews the appeal on the importance of prevention measures "both those aimed at countering the proliferation of mosquitoes and those aimed at protecting oneself from bites. We also remember, especially in the case of frail or elderly people,' explains Palamara, 'to contact the doctor in the event of a fever'. In the last week, as reported in the bulletin published today by the Higher Institute of Health, 84 new cases have been reported, bringing the total number of infections recorded since the beginning of 2025 to 173. Deaths are also on the rise: to date, those notified to the Iss platform number 11 (1 in Piedmont, 4 in Lazio, 6 in Campania), while confirmation is awaited on the others in the last few hours. With the new deaths, there would be 15 victims in Italy, with seven in Campania, one in Piedmont and the seventh victim in Lazio. Among the cases confirmed by the Iss, 72 manifested themselves in the neuro-invasive form (2 in Piedmont, 2 in Lombardy, 4 in Veneto, 1 in Friuli-Venezia Giulia, 2 in Emilia-Romagna, 37 in Lazio, 21 in Campania, 1 in Basilicata, 1 in Sardinia), 14 asymptomatic cases identified in blood donors, 85 cases of fever, 1 asymptomatic case and 1 symptomatic case.

The lethality rate, calculated on the neuro-invasive forms reported so far, is 15% (in 2018 20%, in 2024 14%). But the epidemiological situation of the current season is no more serious than that of previous years, Schillaci emphasised in his briefing to the Senate Commission on 5 August. In 2018, the minister said, there were 618 cases and 49 deaths, in 2022, 728 confirmed cases and 51 deaths. In 2024, as of 31 July, 28 cases of infection had been reported, with 2 deaths, which then rose in November 2024 to 484, with 36 deaths. Meanwhile, to combat the spread, in Emilia-Romagna, the Modena local health authority has intensified monitoring with twelve mosquito traps, placed every fortnight from May to October, in green areas with water stagnation. The captured insects are then sent to the Zooprophylactic Institute of Reggio Emilia for analysis.