Zagreb Fogs City After Seven West Nile Cases
Croatia's capital fogged the city from four to seven this morning to control mosquitoes, after the West Nile virus was confirmed in seven people and five dead crows.
Zagreb carried out an emergency mosquito fogging operation this morning, from four to seven o’clock, after the West Nile virus was confirmed in seven people and in five dead crows found at various locations across the city. For Serbian readers this is not merely news from next door: the same virus, carried by Culex mosquitoes, circulates across the region every year during the same summer and early autumn window, so the epidemiological picture out of Zagreb points to how active this year’s mosquito season has been across this part of Europe.
The operation began after the virus was first detected in five dead crows found at different locations around the city. The Andrija Stampar Teaching Institute of Public Health then ordered targeted anti-epidemic measures in those areas, as it does whenever infection is confirmed in people. Before the fogging itself, mosquito larvae were treated in standing water, and only then did aerial and ground fogging follow.
Dijana Mayer, an epidemiologist at the Croatian Institute of Public Health, told HRT that the number of confirmed cases has risen to seven. “So far we have seven reported cases, four of them symptomatic and three asymptomatic,” Mayer said, adding that the cases have been recorded in Zagreb and in central and eastern Croatia.
According to data released on September 1, four of the infected are being treated at the Dr. Fran Mihaljevic University Hospital for Infectious Diseases, two of them in intensive care. Marko Kutlesa, head of the hospital’s Department of Intensive Care Medicine, described the patients’ condition:
“We currently have two patients, one is somewhat better, the other is still on mechanical ventilation.”
Kutlesa said the situation was typical for this time of year, though he noted that the virus appears to be circulating somewhat more intensively this season, a trend that has not, for now, translated into a higher number of cases.
Ana Klobucar, head of the Department of Disinfection, Disinsection and Deratization within the Department of Epidemiology at the Andrija Stampar Institute, explained the method to N1: “Fogging is a method for controlling adult mosquitoes. It is carried out using devices mounted on vehicles.” This morning’s first treatments covered Savica, Sredisce, Zaprudje, Travno, Utrine and Slobostina, along with parallel treatment of the wider Donji grad and Gornji grad area.
Residents were advised to stay indoors during the fogging. “During that time we ask residents to close their windows and doors, and if not strictly necessary, not to spend time outdoors,” Klobucar said, adding that beekeepers should close their hives, since bees are sensitive to the insecticide.
The operation continues tomorrow in Bartol Kasic Park and on the green areas around Kvaternik Square, as well as again in Savica, Bundek, Zaprudje, Sredisce, Utrine, Travno and Slobostina. The Institute notes that fogging is part of the city’s regular pest control program, which, alongside water treatment and responses to resident reports, runs throughout the season, and it recommends that residents of treated neighborhoods use repellents, wear long clothing and install protective screens on windows and doors, especially during peak mosquito activity.
The case fits into a wider European picture. According to the latest available data from the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC), 877 locally acquired West Nile virus infections had been reported in Europe as of August 26, across 15 countries. Italy recorded the most cases, 428, followed by Greece with 222, Spain with 79 and North Macedonia with 49. The Croatian Institute of Public Health stresses that the virus is not transmitted directly from person to person, except in rare cases through blood transfusion or organ transplantation, which means mosquito control remains the only effective measure on the ground.
