A TERRIFYING disease spread by mosquitos is sweeping across Europe killing at least 170 people in Europe this year, with the majority of cases in the south of the continent as infection rates soar.
Last year, there were only 200 reported infections in the EU, with 25 people killed.
But in 2018 there have been 1,460 reported cases of the potentially lethal sickness, according to the EU Health Commission.
The fever has ripped across Europe in 2018, killing 44 people in Italy, 42 in Greece, 42 in Romania and 35 in Serbia.
Fatalities in Kosovo (3), Bulgaria (2), the Czech Republic (1) and Hungary (1) have also occurred.
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Dozensdieas deadlyWest Nile virusrips through Europe (Image: Getty)
There havebeen morethan 1,460 reportedcases ofthe deadly feverin 2018(Image: Getty)
Italy (550) and Serbia (410) have seen the highest number of cases.
Victims contract the virus from mosquitos that have fed on infected birds.
Around 80 per cent of infected people have no symptoms, with about a fifth of those affected developing flu-like symptoms.
Roughly one in 150 people get seriously ill with a high fever and meningitis.
Cold weather is helping to reduce the killer virus’s impact.
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So far, nobody has caught the virus while in the UK.
But with no vaccine to protect holidaymakers from West Nile virus, the NHS has warned British travellers to wear mosquito spray and use mosquito nets in affected countries.
The fevers its origins in Africa.
Birds are the most common carriers and can spread the West Nile fever between countries when they migrate.
A German vetcontracted the killervirus after performing anautopsyon an owl(Image: Getty)
In September, a German vet was diagnosed with suspected West Nile virus infection after performing an autopsy on a dead owl found in a wildlife park.
The fever is not spread directly between animals.
By 30 October 2018, EU Member States reported 1,463 cases in Italy (550), Greece (307), Romania (276), Hungary (214), Croatia (53), France (24), Austria (19), Bulgaria (15), Slovenia (3) and the Czech Republic (2).
It was first detected in 1937 in the West Nile region of Uganda.
In the 1990s, it made the leap across the Atlantic with the US hit by an epidemic of more than 4,000 sufferers and 250 deaths in 2002.