Andalucía has recorded its first death of the year from West Nile virus, bringing the total number of cases to 17

The regional ministry for public health has also confirmed in a statement a new case in the Seville town of Aznalcázar, bringing the total number of cases diagnosed this season to 17. This is a mild case of the WNV infection. Consequently, the regional ministry has decided to declare this town in Seville an ‘alert area’ until 24 August. The case has been confirmed by the reference laboratory at the Virgen del Rocío university hospital.

This alert status in the area due to the circulation of the West Nile virus means stepping up the three surveillance programmes (entomological, animal and human) in the area, launch community awareness campaigns and step up public communication efforts through community pharmacies and health centres to ensure that the necessary protective measures against WNV are taken.

For its part, the local authority must enforce measures to control and treat mosquitoes that transmit the disease while the area remains on alert. It must therefore step up the measures set out in its municipal plan for the surveillance and control of West Nile virus-transmitting vectors, not only in built-up areas but also in any places or locations situated no more than 1.5 kilometres away that have been identified as larval breeding sites or adult breeding grounds. The Seville regional office for health and consumer affairs has informed Aznalcázar town hall and the Seville provincial council of this situation.

There are currently 19 municipalities in Andalucía that have been declared alert areas: Torredonjimeno and Lopera in Jaén, Salobreña in Granada, Fuengirola and Las Lagunas-Mijas in Malaga, and Almensilla, Aznalcázar, Bollullos de la Mitación, Castilblanco de los Arroyos, Coria del Río, Constantina, Dos Hermanas, Gelves, La Puebla del Río, Mairena del Aljarafe, Palomares del Río, San Juan de Aznalfarache and Villamanrique de la Condesa in the province of Seville. Viral circulation was also detected in Benacazón (Seville) and Bujalance (Córdoba); however, as the detection site was located more than 1.5 km from the town centre, it was not necessary to declare an alert area.

To date, 12 mild cases and five neuroinvasive cases of West Nile virus have been diagnosed this year in Andalucíia. Laboratory tests were also carried out on 342 individuals, screening for arboviral infections in 107 patients with viral meningitis, and 2,088 tests for West Nile virus in blood donor screening, all of which returned negative results.

Furthermore, the circulation of WNV has been detected in two wild birds in Andalucía, out of a total of 219 tested. This was in an area remote from population centres within the Doñana national park. To date, no circulation of WNV has been detected in equines during the current season.

Since the start of the period of high mosquito densities, a total of 4,148 tests have been carried out on 215 active traps in Andalucía, all of which have so far returned positive results. Furthermore, a gradual increase in mosquito densities is being observed; as a result, over the past week, high densities of female disease-carrying mosquitoes have been recorded in La Puebla del Río, Coria del Río, Los Palacios y Villafranca, Isla Mayor, Villamanrique de la Condesa, Palomares del Río, Almensilla, San Juan de Aznalfarache, Benacazón and Aznalcázar, in the province of Seville, and Mollina in the province of Malaga.

The regional health ministry has 134 of its own traps distributed across all eight provinces to monitor and control the spread of the virus in mosquitoes of the genus Culex, mainly Culex pipiens and Culex perexiguus. The ministry centralises data from traps operated by other authorities, such as the provincial councils of Huelva, Seville and Cordoba, the Doñana biological station of the CSIC (EBD-CSIC) and the competitive research unit ‘Zoonoses and emerging diseases from a one health perspective’ at the University of Cordoba. As a result, the ministry receives information from around 220 traps, enabling it to assess the risk level for each municipality and, where necessary, declare either a municipal alert area or a specific alert area. The latter may be designated if virus circulation is detected in a populated area that is separate from the municipality's main urban centre, such as an outlying village or an autonomous local entity.

In March, the FNO programme informed all Andalusian local councils of the risk level at the start of the peak season. Currently, 122 municipalities are at high risk: Almeria 6, Cadiz 18, Cordoba 14, Granada 5, Huelva 15, Jaén 9, Malaga 11 and Seville 44.

Public health officers deployed across the country have carried out 1,563 inspections in a total of 690 municipalities. In 353 municipalities, drains and other control points have been inspected. The FNO local projects teams have carried out 2,972 direct initiatives, involving 60,409 people, as well as indirect measures (posters, radio, etc.). Specifically, 1,058 community initiatives have been carried out, 1,596 in schools, 117 in collaboration with non-healthcare professionals and 201 with healthcare professionals.