Belgium had its first West Nile cases in 2026. An evening routine covers it.

Yes, and 2026 brought something new. Belgium recorded its first human West Nile cases this year, 15 by late October, mostly around Mechelen, Antwerp and Brussels, spread by Culex mosquitoes that bite in the evening and at night. For a summer city break, an evening repellent habit and a screened or air-conditioned room cover it, plus tick checks after a hike in the Ardennes.

Belgium's first West Nile season

West Nile reached Belgium in August 2025, when it was found in three wild birds of the crow family, the journal Eurosurveillance reported. In 2026 it turned up in birds and horses in many parts of the country, from Brussels, Antwerp and Ghent to Leuven, Liège, Namur and Charleroi. As of October 21, the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) counted 15 locally acquired human cases, with no deaths. Five were in the Mechelen district, 4 in Antwerp, 3 in Halle-Vilvoorde around Brussels, and 1 each in Leuven, Sint-Niklaas and Brussels itself. Most fell ill in the second half of August.

The national rate is low. The season is new, though, and it runs late in the summer. West Nile spreads through Culex house mosquitoes, which bite in the evening and at night. In August and September, put repellent on before an evening outdoors around Antwerp, Mechelen, Brussels and Leuven, and keep windows closed or screened at night. If you're 65 or older or have a weakened immune system, take that routine most seriously.

The Asian tiger mosquito is established in 4 of Belgium's 11 regional units, ECDC's April 2026 map shows. It bites by day, with peaks in the morning and late afternoon. Belgium has never reported a locally acquired case of dengue or chikungunya, the viruses it can spread.

Bruges canals, Ghent and Ardennes ticks

In the cities, bites tend to be light. The classic complaint is a canal-side room in Bruges with open, unscreened windows on a summer night. In Bruges and Ghent, ask for a room with screens or air conditioning, keep the windows shut after dark or run a plug-in vaporizer, and wear repellent for canal-side evenings.

In the Ardennes and the Flemish forests, the bite to plan for is a tick. Tick-borne encephalitis (TBE) is newly recognized and rare in Belgium. The first confirmed locally acquired cases came in 2020, with 3 that year, 2 in 2024 and 3 in 2025, the journal Viruses reported in 2026. Likely bite sites for four of the cases ranged from Oostkamp, next to Bruges, to the town of Lille in Antwerp province, Evergem in East Flanders and Wanze in Liège province, a 2025 report in Emerging Infectious Diseases found.

CDC's Belgium page gives no TBE vaccine recommendation. Under tick-borne encephalitis it says "Avoid bug bites." On a forest hike, use a repellent with 20% or more DEET, which CDC advises for protection from both ticks and mosquitoes, and check your whole body for ticks afterward. Ticks tend to stay active from spring into fall, so an October walk in the Ardennes still ends with a tick check. CDC recommends no malaria medicine for Belgium, and the yellow fever vaccine is neither recommended nor required.

Where you're going

How the main stops compare for a June–September trip.

Heading on? Our Netherlands briefing covers Dutch bedroom mosquitoes and a 2026 West Nile season of their own, our France briefing covers the tiger mosquito in the south, and our Germany briefing covers the Rhine and the southern forests.

What travelers report

Paraphrased from TripAdvisor threads and hotel reviews in Bruges and linked so you can read them in full. None is dated, and whether your room has screens matters more than the month.

• Bruges · early September

  A traveler said they were badly bitten in early September and that mosquitoes were in their hotel room even though it was not especially close to the canals. A downtown Bruges resident replied that there are mosquitoes in summer, though not where people sit outside with a drink, that locals use screens and plug-in devices at night, and suggested an air-conditioned hotel not right beside a canal. TripAdvisor ↗

• De Barge Hotel, Bruges

  A guest at this canal barge hotel had no mosquito problems thanks to window screens, though they expected mosquitoes could lurk near the water. TripAdvisor ↗

• Hotel Rosenburg, Bruges

  A reviewer noted that the windows had no mosquito nets and that there were quite a few mosquitoes by the canal. TripAdvisor ↗

• Hotel Ter Brughe, Bruges

  A reviewer of this canal-side hotel said a couple of mosquitoes got into their otherwise spacious room. TripAdvisor ↗

Any fever during or after your trip means a doctor visit, and you tell them you were in Belgium.

Traveler questions