The number of people living with undiagnosed HIV is increasing in the WHO European Region. According to data published today by ECDC and the WHO/Europe, more than 136 000 people were newly diagnosed in 2019 – roughly 20% of these were diagnosed in the EU/EAA and 80% in the eastern part of the European Region. Every second HIV diagnosis (53%) happens at a late stage of the infection, when the immune system has already started to fail. This is a sign that testing strategies in the Region are not working properly to diagnose HIV early.

The European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) is today opening the 2020 European Scientific Conference on Applied Infectious Disease Epidemiology (ESCAIDE). A key theme at the ESCAIDE conference is COVID-19, with two plenaries that will focus on the epidemiology, societal impact and effectiveness of measures taken with respect to the pandemic.

On 18 November 2020, the 11th outbreak of Ebola virus disease in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) was declared over. There have been 130 cases, including 55 deaths reported from 13 health zones in the Equateur Province since the beginning of the outbreak almost six months ago.

New data released today by ECDC show that levels of antimicrobial resistance and antimicrobial consumption in the EU/EEA and the UK are still of concern, particularly in the southern and eastern parts of Europe.

The European Commission today presented a set of proposals to expand the legal mandate of ECDC. First, a draft Regulation changing ECDC’s current founding Regulation was announced.

ECDC will assess the human implications of an extensive spread of SARS-CoV-2 in mink farms in Denmark, where by 3 November 197 farms had been affected in the country.

French authorities have reported an increased number of dengue cases in Martinique in recent months. The number of cases notified constitute the largest outbreak reported on the island in the last decade.