Released today, ECDC’s new Annual Epidemiological Report provides a comprehensive review of more than 50 communicable diseases currently notifiable under EU legislation.

European communicable disease surveillance lies firmly in the hand of the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control and its database system known as ‘TESSy’ (The European Surveillance System). Through data calls to 27 EU Member States as well as Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway, the resulting report offers a near-complete picture of the state of European health with regard to infectious diseases.

The Annual Epidemiological Report 2012 – which is based on 2010 surveillance data – also shows that meaningful disease surveillance in Europe is not easily accomplished. Surveillance systems in the EU still have a long way to go before disease data will be comparable and compatible between Member States or even between the regions within each State.

In addition, the 2012 report gives an overview of antimicrobial consumption in the Member States and offers a summary of ‘potential communicable disease threats’ recorded in 2011, demonstrating once again the usefulness of epidemic intelligence as a tool for the early detection of disease outbreaks.