West Nile Virus in Serbia: 18 Cases Confirmed

How many people in Serbia have caught West Nile fever this season? As of August 30, eighteen, and fifteen of them with the severe, neuroinvasive form of the disease. The number is climbing week over week, and a new report from the Institute of Public Health of Serbia “Dr Milan Jovanovic Batut” shows the infection has now reached a district that wasn’t on the list before.

“In Serbia, 18 cases of West Nile fever had been recorded by August 30, 2026, 15 of them with the neuroinvasive form of the disease,” the Institute Batut states in its epidemiological situation report.

The figure covers the period from June 1, when the surveillance season began, through August 30. A week earlier, as of August 23, Serbia had 11 confirmed cases, 10 of them severe. In just seven days, the count rose by seven more.

Where the infection is spreading

According to the latest report, cases have been recorded in seven districts: the city of Belgrade with 7, Central Banat with 3, South Backa with 3, South Banat with 2, Sumadija with 1, West Backa with 1, and North Banat with 1. North Banat is the newcomer, absent from the August 23 report, when cases were spread across six districts, with Central Banat leading at three.

Who is getting sick

Among the 18 patients are 12 men and 6 women, with an average age of 63.2. A week earlier the split was 7 men and 4 women, averaging 66.2 years old. In the season’s first report, dated August 16, there were only 6 cases, two each in Belgrade, South Banat, and Central Banat, with an average age of 64. The curve is climbing steadily: six, then eleven, then eighteen, a week apart each time.

How the virus spreads

“The main vector, or carrier, of West Nile virus is Culex pipiens, a mosquito species well established here,” the Institute Batut explains. The transmission season in Serbia runs from June through November, meaning the risk doesn’t end when summer does.

When the illness turns serious

The Institute notes that roughly one in 150 infected people develops more severe neurological complications, encephalitis or meningitis. These come with high fever, a stiff neck, disorientation, tremors, and in more serious cases, paralysis. There is no vaccine for humans, so the only real protection is avoiding the bite in the first place.

How to protect yourself

The Institute Batut is urging a few concrete steps, worth taking seriously while the season lasts:

• “Use repellents on exposed parts of the body,” the Institute advises
• wear long sleeves and long pants, ideally in lighter colors
• fit screens on windows and doors
• avoid being outside at dusk and dawn, when mosquitoes are most active
• regularly empty standing water around the house, from flower pots, buckets and similar containers, since that’s where mosquitoes breed most easily

What’s happening across Europe

The outbreak isn’t just a Serbian story. As of August 26, human cases in the European Union and European Economic Area had been recorded in Italy, Greece, Romania, Spain, France, Germany, Austria, the Netherlands, Croatia, Cyprus and Hungary, and in the region also in North Macedonia and Albania. According to figures the news agency ADN Kronos reported on August 27, Italy alone had counted 223 cases and 17 deaths by then, and Greece 232 cases and 19 deaths. North Macedonia recorded its fifth fatality, and the Netherlands its first of the year.

By comparison, the report from August 13, two weeks earlier, put the total at 426 cases across seven European countries: 224 in Italy, 105 in Greece, 42 in Spain, 30 in North Macedonia, 18 in Romania, 6 in France and 1 in Germany. That figure nearly doubled in two weeks too, the same pattern seen in Serbia.

So far, Serbia has reported no deaths. While the season continues, what you can actually do is cut your own exposure: repellent in your bag, a screen on the window, and less time outside at dusk aren’t complicated steps, but they genuinely make a difference.