West Nile Virus: Belgrade Now Leads Serbia With 16 Cases
Serbia's Batut institute reports 46 West Nile virus cases as of September 20, three more than the previous week. Belgrade now leads with 16 cases.
How many people have caught West Nile virus in Serbia this season? Already 46, according to the latest tally from the Institute of Public Health of Serbia “Dr Milan Jovanovic Batut,” three more than a week earlier.
Data covering June 1 through September 20, 2026, shows 46 total cases recorded in Serbia. Of those, 43 developed the neuroinvasive form of the disease, encephalitis or meningitis, the more severe course of infection. Cases have turned up across ten districts.
Where case counts are highest
The breakdown by district looks like this:
- City of Belgrade, 16 cases
- South Backa District, nine cases
- Sumadija District, six cases
- Central Banat District, five cases
- South Banat District, four cases
- North Banat District, two cases
- West Backa, Rasina, Branicevo and Pomoravlje districts, one case each
Among those infected, 28 are men and 18 are women, with an average age of 66.6.
Why Belgrade now leads
This is the first point in the season where the numbers can be compared week to week, and the shift stands out. In the tally through September 6, when the total stood at 37 cases, Belgrade had ten and South Backa District had nine. Two weeks later Belgrade’s count had climbed to 16, while South Backa District stayed at nine. Pomoravlje District appeared on the list for the first time in that stretch.
The week by week growth looks like this: 37 cases through September 6, of which 34 were neuroinvasive, then 43 through September 13, of which 40 were severe, and now 46 through September 20, of which 43 are neuroinvasive. The case count is still climbing, but more slowly than in the first two weeks of September.
Infectious disease specialist Ljiljana Jemuovic addressed why so many of the cases are severe.
“Temperature fluctuations, weaker immunity and many underlying conditions explain the higher number of severe cases.”
She made the comment to N1 in mid September, when the tally showed 40 of 43 cases with a severe form of the disease.
Who is most at risk
The institute and infectious disease specialists point out that most people bitten by an infected mosquito never notice any symptoms. About 80 percent of those bitten have no complaints at all, while roughly 20 percent fall ill, most often people between 50 and 80 who also live with chronic conditions. That lines up with this season’s average patient age of 66.6.
Coverage of this year’s tally includes no data on deaths. For comparison, West Nile virus has killed more than 65 people in Serbia over the past decade, with 35 of those deaths in 2018 alone.
Season runs through November
The main carrier of the virus is the Culex pipiens mosquito, and the transmission season in Serbia typically runs from June through November. That means the risk sticks around for several more weeks, especially in the districts already reporting the highest case counts.
Serbia isn’t alone in this. According to figures relayed by Mondo, Europe has recorded 1,437 locally acquired cases across 14 countries so far this season. Italy has the most with 652, followed by Greece with 355 and Spain with 114.
If you’re over 50 and live with a chronic illness, this is a season worth paying attention to symptoms like high fever and headache, and seeing a doctor promptly rather than writing the discomfort off as a common cold.
