West Nile Virus Found in a Cukarica Mosquito

Has West Nile virus now reached Belgrade’s own mosquitoes? Yes, it has been confirmed in one sample. The finding was published on August 13, 2026, and the mosquito was trapped in the municipality of Cukarica, at the Zeleznik marshalling yard.

Until now, West Nile fever was a story from the neighborhood, from Greece and North Macedonia. Now there is a lab result from an insect caught on our own ground, and it comes from the same district where both hospitalized patients live.

The analysis was carried out by the laboratory of the Ecology and Environmental Improvement Sector at JKP “Gradska cistoca” Belgrade, the city’s public utility company, using the real time PCR method.

“During the analysis of mosquitoes trapped across the territory of the City of Belgrade, the laboratory of the Ecology and Environmental Improvement Sector of JKP ‘Gradska cistoca’ Belgrade detected a total of one sample positive for the presence of the West Nile virus genome,” said Dubravka Planinac of that sector.

The infected mosquito belongs to the Culex genus. The statement did not specify the exact species. Culex pipiens is the mosquito most often cited here as the main carrier of the virus and is well established in Serbia, but the finding does not say the sample was identified down to that species.

Why Cukarica matters

Because it is the same municipality the first two patients of the season come from. The Institute of Public Health of Serbia “Dr Milan Jovanovic Batut” registered the first two cases of West Nile fever this year on August 6.

The patients are Belgrade residents aged 75 and 82. Both were hospitalized at the Clinic for Infectious and Tropical Diseases in Belgrade after developing the neuroinvasive form of the disease.

The virus transmission season in Serbia runs from June to November, which makes August the month when the highest number of cases is usually reported.

When and where the spraying happens

Crews from “Gradska cistoca” carried out adult mosquito control on August 13 and 14, using ground and water based equipment, between 3:30 and 7 a.m.

The treatments covered areas from Pancevo Bridge toward Crvenka, Jojkicev Dunavac, the stretch from Pancevo Bridge toward Mali Raj on the left bank of the Danube, Barajevo, downtown Sopot, Resnik, Mladenovac, Kanarevo Brdo, Miljakovac and Visnjicka Banja.

There is one catch worth knowing before getting frustrated that no crew showed up in your neighborhood.

“Treatments will only be carried out if weather conditions allow it, which means no rain, optimal temperatures and moderate wind,” Planinac explained.

Rain, in other words, helps mosquitoes breed, and the spraying agents are heat sensitive, so the operation gets called off when it rains. In the meantime, the sector keeps up its daily monitoring of mosquito numbers across all of Belgrade’s municipalities, and the lab continues analyzing the trapped samples.

Five steps you can take tonight

• Use repellent every time you go out in the evening, not just when heading into nature.
• Put screens on your windows, especially in rooms where older household members sleep.
• Empty flowerpot saucers, old tires and barrels in the yard, they are ideal mosquito breeding spots.
• If you have a septic tank, treat it with the recommended products.
• Avoid being outdoors during the hours when mosquitoes are most active, from 7 p.m. to midnight.

This is not our own improvisation, it comes straight from the official statement.

“We ask our fellow citizens to act responsibly, to make sure they use repellents and mosquito screens, and to avoid staying outdoors during the period of highest insect activity, between 7 p.m. and midnight,” Planinac stressed.

If you notice a sudden jump in mosquito numbers in your area, report it to the City of Belgrade Service Center at 11-0-11, weekdays from 7 a.m. to 10 p.m. and Saturdays from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m.

What are the symptoms and when should you see a doctor?

Most infected people have no symptoms at all. Batut states that about 80 percent of those infected show no signs of illness whatsoever.

In a smaller share of cases, the clinical picture resembles the flu: sudden high fever, headache, muscle and joint pain, fatigue, a mild passing rash and swollen lymph nodes.

The neuroinvasive form, the one that lands people in hospital, occurs in fewer than 1 percent of cases. Its signs include headache, stiff neck, confusion, disorientation, tremors, convulsions, muscle weakness and paralysis. Batut warns that mortality is higher among older patients, especially those over 80, and that anyone with such symptoms should contact their doctor immediately.

Humans are a dead end host for this virus, birds are the main reservoir of infection, and the virus does not spread further from an infected person. So there is no need to worry about catching it from a sick household member. Worrying about the mosquito in the room is a different matter.