New review spotlights horses in Europe’s West Nile surveillance

West Nile virus surveillance in Europe is getting a fresh review through a new narrative paper in Pathogens that brings together epidemiology, vector ecology, climate and land-use drivers, and the role of horses as sentinels within a One Health framework. The review argues that West Nile virus has continued to expand northward in Europe as climatic suitability and vector distribution shift, with Culex pipiens and Culex modestus now established in more central and northern areas. It also highlights that by 2023, more than 20 European countries had reported West Nile virus in humans, horses, or wildlife, and that equine surveillance can provide an early signal of local circulation before wider spillover is recognized. (mdpi.com)

Why it matters: For veterinary professionals, the review reinforces a practical point: horses are more than spillover hosts. Because most equine infections are subclinical, but neurologic disease can be severe or fatal, serologic surveillance in unvaccinated horses can help identify transmission hotspots and support earlier mosquito-control and public health action. The paper also points to diagnostic constraints, including short and low-level viremia and flavivirus serologic cross-reactivity, themes expanded in a companion Veterinary Sciences review on equine diagnosis and surveillance. At the policy level, this fits with the EU’s integrated reporting framework, where EFSA and ECDC jointly track infections in humans, equids, and birds, and member states must rapidly notify confirmed primary outbreaks. (mdpi.com)

What to watch: As the 2026 mosquito season develops, watch for whether European surveillance programs expand use of equine serology in newly affected areas, especially after the EU recorded 186 equine outbreaks in 2025. (efsa.europa.eu)