Possible implications of annual temperature and precipitation changes in tick-borne encephalitis and West Nile virus incidence in Italy, between 2010 and 2020

According to the Istat data, between 2010 and 2020 in Italy some rele- vant changes in Average Annual Temperature (°C) and Total Annual Precipitation (mm) have been recorded, with consequent effects on hydrological drought, environ- mental aspects, economic activities, and human health. To provide an overall dynamic picture, an analysis has been conducted about the mean calculated on the twenty Italian regional capitals and single regional capitals. After providing a synthetic framework, also evidencing specific cases, the main aim was to examine and inte- grate the up-to-date knowledge on the impacts of specific changes on tick-borne encephalitis virus (TBEV) and West Nile virus (WNV) transmission. Indeed, during the last two decades we experienced a changing epidemiology for some arboviral infections in Italy, especially for TBEV and WNV. Here, we discussed the most relevant peer-reviewed studies that deal with linkages between meteorological and climatic elements and TBEV or WNV diffusion, as well as vector ecology (i.e., ticks and mosquitoes, respectively).