From 24 February to 1 March 2013, ECDC monitored several on-going public health threats within and outside the European Union.

Overall, the influenza situation reported for week 8/2013 suggests that the declining trend observed since week 5/2013 is continuing with additional countries reporting decreasing activity. While Belgium, Finland and Germany reported high influenza intensity with higher than usual level of influenza activity, 22 countries reported medium intensity. ECDC monitors influenza activity in Europe during the winter seasons and publishes the results in the Weekly Influenza Surveillance Overview.

The Swedish institute for communicable disease control reported two on-going measles outbreaks in the Uppsala and Stockholm counties. In 2013, only the UK and Sweden reported outbreaks. ECDC closely monitors measles transmission and outbreaks in the EU and neighbouring countries in Europe through enhanced surveillance and epidemic intelligence activities.

The ECDC communicable disease threats report is a weekly bulletin intended for epidemiologists and health professionals in the area of communicable disease prevention and control.

Read the full Communicable Disease Threats Report, week 9/2013

Read more:
Weekly influenza surveillance overview: still substantial influenza activity while more countries report signs of declining transmission, 1 March 2013
ECDC risk assessment on seasonal influenza 2012/13 in Europe
Influenza virus characterisation: Summary Europe December 2012
Watch ECDC video on seasonal influenza
View influenza surveillance maps
Measles and rubella monitoring, February 2013