PharmacovigilanceOfficial

Austria's BASG lists 11 Serbian regions with confirmed human West Nile virus infections

🇦🇹 BASG · Tue 27 Oct 2026

The agency has updated its blood and tissue safety notice, asking establishments to take the affected areas into account during donor interviews and selection.

Austria's Federal Office for Safety in Health Care (BASG) published an update on 27 October 2026 on West Nile virus (WNV) in Serbia. The notice sits under its blood and tissue safety section.

BASG says it has been informed of confirmed human WNV infections in eleven Serbian regions: Belgrade, Južnobačka, Južnobanatska, Nišavska, Pomoravska, Rasinska, Raška, Severnobanatska, Srednjobanatska, Šumadijska and Zapadnobačka. The notice does not give case numbers.

The agency asks that this information be taken into account in donor history interviews and donor selection. It refers readers to the attached safety warnings for further detail, without setting out specific measures in the web text.

The page lists seven downloadable documents dating back to 17 August 2026. The others are dated 24 August, 31 August, 7 September, 21 September, 5 October and 27 October, which indicates the notice has been refreshed regularly through the season. BASG gives haemovigilance@basg.gv.at as the contact for queries.

As general context, WNV is a mosquito-borne virus that can be transmitted through blood and some substances of human origin. Authorities in Europe therefore often use geographic risk-based donor deferral or testing measures for people who have been in affected areas.

What it means for your team

  • Blood and tissue establishments linked to Austria should check donor questionnaires and interview procedures against the eleven Serbian regions now listed.
  • Quality and haemovigilance teams should read the attached 27 October safety warning for the operational detail, as the web text gives none.
  • Teams should keep their list of affected areas under review, given the near-fortnightly updates since mid-August.
  • Queries on the notice can go to BASG's haemovigilance contact.

Official source: BASG ↗

Article written by VigiEye from the official source (BASG). AI-assisted; check the source before acting.

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