During Week 18, 29 April – 5 May 2012, ECDC monitored the public health threats to the European Union (EU).

Following the change of seasons, French health authorities began the seasonal surveillance for dengue and chikungunya in areas of the country where the vector is present on 1 May. And as we see the end of winter, all reporting countries continued to report low-intensity influenza activity, with the exception of Slovakia which reported medium activity.

There were no new outbreaks of measles detected in the EU but the total number of cases continues to slowly increase.

Among non-EU threats, the CDTR reports of a severe respiratory disease of unknown origin in Jordan. No new cases have been reported following the initial outbreak of eleven cases connected to an intensive care unit in a Jordanian hospital. The one case who died is now understood to have had underlying health conditions.

The weekly Communicable Disease Threats Report provides a bulletin intended for epidemiologists and health professionals in the area of communicable disease prevention and control.

Read the full  Communicable Disease Threat Report, Week 18, 29 April-5 May 2012

Read more on ECDC website:
Dengue fever health topic
Chikungunya health topic
Influenza health topic