Veterinarians are among the professionals at highest risk of contracting West Nile virus.

West Nile fever (WNV) is caused by an arbovirus of the family Flaviviridae (WNF virus), which primarily affects birds, although it can also infect mammals and cause disease in both horses and humans. The disease is transmitted through the bites of arthropod vectors, usually mosquitoes. genre Culex (S. pipiens And K. modest in Europe, S. peroxiguus in southern Europe). Even-toed ungulates and humans act as epidemiological dead ends, that is, they suffer from infection, and in some cases from disease, but are not carriers or reservoirs. Most infections in humans and horses are asymptomatic.

but a small percentage may develop a severe form of the disease, characterized by encephalomyelitis with neurological symptoms.

Effective control of West Nile virus (WNV) requires a specific prevention strategy, which, in addition to mosquito vector control, also requires identifying populations most at risk.

Therefore, a recently published international study systematically reviewed the literature on work-related WNV infection and assessed the effectiveness of exposure risks between different occupational categories.

To conduct the study, a comprehensive search was conducted for studies up to September 2023 in multiple databases such as PubMed/MEDLINE, SCOPUS and Web of Science.

They were included a total of 21 studies in the systematic review, of which seventeen were observational studies and four were case reports. The authors noted that workers identified as having higher risk of WNV infection These were military workers, veterinariansagricultural workers and farmers, and laboratory workers who have been exposed to infectious liquids or aerosols.

Given this finding, they explained that “identifying high-risk workers can facilitate active surveillance by physicians and other health care providers, which could improve our understanding of WNV epidemiology.” Moreover, “it could help develop appropriate preventive recommendations that reduce the overall burden of disease in high-risk areas.”