There are over 300 sewage treatment plants in the Netherlands, which treat wastewater from their respective catchment areas. The National Institute for Public Health and the Environment (RIVM) receives at least one sample of untreated sewage from every treatment plants per week. These samples are analysed for coronavirus particles in the lab of RIVM’s National Sewage Surveillance (NRS) programme.  Below, several surveillance results are shown. For an explanation of recent data regarding coronavirus, see the weekly coronavirus SARS-CoV-2 figures. 

This animation explains how to cope in hot weather or a heatwave and watch out for symptoms of heat-related illness.

Tjalling Leenstra is head of the National Coordination Centre for Communicable Disease Control (LCI) at the National Institute for Public Health and the Environment (RIVM) and scientific secretary of the Outbreak Management Team (OMT).

What is the National Institute for Public Health and the Environment (RIVM) doing to prevent the spread of the West Nile virus?  The Netherlands has an action plan that  allows us to detect signs of  the West Nile virus presence in our country at an early stage. One aspect of this plan of action is a strategy designed to minimise people’s exposure to mosquito-borne West Nile virus. More information on this strategy, called Integral Vector Management (Integraal Vectormanagement in Dutch), is provided in a report entitled West Nile virus in The Netherlands: Integrated Vector Management 2021-2023 (in Dutch, English synopsis).This strategy allows us to implement measures at an early stage, thus minimising the risks posed to humans. The strategy document, drawn up by RIVM in association with several public authorities and universities, outlines what situations pose a threat to humans, what actions are required and who is to take them.  More information about available research  

Mosquitoes infected with diseases that can have a  negative effect on your health are extremely uncommon in the Netherlands. The late summer of 2020 marked the first time the West Nile virus was found in a person who had contracted the virus in the Netherlands. You are much more likely to be infected with a mosquito-borne disease in other countries – generally warmer countries.