As Europe warms, Italy sees West Nile virus spread

Italian health authorities see evidence that rising temperatures and longer warm seasons are helping mosquitoes spread West Nile virus across a wider area, during more months of the year.

<img src='https://npr.brightspotcdn.com/dims3/default/strip/false/crop/8640x5760+0+0/resize/8640x5760!/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fnpr-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fa4%2Fb6%2Fa83eef794e8598fb56ce00a4da44%2Fap26261503292337.jpg' alt='Francesco Severino, a senior researcher in medical entomology, places a net over a cage containing mosquitoes inside a laboratory at the Italian National Institute of Health in Rome, Friday, Sept. 18, 2026.'/><p>Italian health authorities see evidence that rising temperatures and longer warm seasons are helping mosquitoes spread West Nile virus across a wider area, during more months of the year. </p><p>(Image credit: Gregorio Borgia)</p><img src='https://media.npr.org/include/images/tracking/npr-rss-pixel.png?story=g-s1-144162' />