As of 13th January 2020, 59 probable cases of pneumonia associated with a novel coronavirus have been reported in Wuhan City, China. Most cases had an epidemiological link to a Seafood City market (a wholesale market for seafood and live animals).

ECDC is planning to perform a number of e-health proof-of-concept (POC) studies from 2020 for a total of four years. The publication of the call for tender is preliminary planned for the first quarter of 2020.

The first virus detections for the 2019/2020 season indicate co-circulation of influenza types A (71%) and B (29%) viruses in the WHO European Region. This is a mix which potentially could result in high mortality in elderly patients and a heavy burden on healthcare services, warns the European Centre for Disease Control and Prevention (ECDC) and World Health Organization (WHO) Regional Office for Europe in a joint assessment issued today.

The new EULabCap data on microbiology system performance in the 30 EU/ EEA countries show continuous improvement.

Nearly one in three foodborne outbreaks in the EU in 2018 were caused by Salmonella. This is one of the main findings of the annual report on trends and sources of zoonoses published today by the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) and the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC).

Within one week, Latvia, Spain and Italy each notified a case of imported rabies. Earlier in the year, Norway had reported an additional travel-related case. Travellers to countries where rabies is enzootic should follow basic preventive measures.

According to the World Health Organization (WHO), one EU/EEA country (Romania) and two neighbouring countries (Bosnia and Herzegovina, and Ukraine) remain at high risk of a sustained polio outbreak partly due to insufficient vaccination coverage.

As of 4 December 2019, European Union (EU) Member States and EU neighbouring countries reported 463 human infections in 2019. The last cases of this transmission season were reported by Italy in week 46.

The new ECDC organisational structure will take effect from January 2020.

Many women in the WHO European Region, particularly those in their 40s, are diagnosed at a late stage of HIV infection when their immune system is already starting to fail. They are three to four times more likely to be diagnosed late than younger women. According to data for 2018 released today by the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) and the WHO Regional Office for Europe, women accounted for one-third of the 141 000 new HIV diagnoses in the Region, indicating that this population needs more attention in Europe's prevention and testing efforts.