Since the first week of August and as of 11 September 2023, 19 locally acquired dengue fever cases have been detected in the Lombardy (14) and Lazio (5) regions in Italy. The cases are grouped in three clusters:

• in the province of Lodi, Lombardy region (14 cases)
  
• in the metropolitan city of Rome (3 cases) and 
  
• in the province of Latina (2 cases), Lazio region (Circero). 

All cases were laboratory confirmed by PCR and all cases have recovered or are improving.

A DENV-1 serotype virus was identified in the cases in Lombardy and in the metropolitan city of Rome, Lazio region. Epidemiological investigations have not identified any link between the cases in Lombardy and the cases identified in the Lazio region. 

A DENV-3 serotype was detected in the cluster of cases in the province of Latina, Lazio region, indicating that this outbreak is independent from the other two in Italy. 

Response and control measures are being implemented by Italian public health authorities. These include case finding, vector control activities, information to healthcare providers and the general public, and preventive measures for donors of substances of human origin (e.g. blood and organs). 

So far, 146 imported dengue cases have been registered in Italy in 2023, most of them in the Lombardy region (50 imported cases) and Lazio region (28 imported cases).

For more details of the outbreak in Italy, see Rapid Communication of Eurosurveilance.