Southern Spain on Alert for West Nile Virus

Since the beginning of 2025, the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) has identified ten countries in Europe reporting human cases of West Nile virus (WNV) infection: Albania, Bulgaria, France, Greece, Hungary, Italy, Romania, Serbia, Spain, and Türkiye.

As of September 17, 2025, the ECDC reported Spain has confirmed 8 WNV cases this year.

In southern Spain, north of Gibraltar, mosquito control efforts have begun after infected mosquitoes carrying WNV were found in Benalup-Casas Viejas, in the Cadiz region. This city has a population of 6,754, but is a tourist favorite in 2025.

The Andalusian Health Department recently announced that the Seville municipality of Guillena is now on alert after the virus was detected in mosquitoes and confirmed the first case of WNV in the autonomous community.

In total, 109 Andalusian municipalities are at a high risk level or in an alert area situation, distributed across all provinces.

Spain's initial human case of autochthonous WNV lineage two was confirmed in 2024. This detection linked the strain to Central Europe. In total, 158 people were infected, with 20 dying from related complications in 2024.

From a disease prevention perspective, the U.S. CDC recommends avoiding mosquito bites since there are no WNV vaccines available in 2025.

Additionally, the CDC reports an increased risk of exposure to poliovirus in Spain, advising visitors to be fully vaccinated.