Communicable disease threats report, 29 December 2013 - 4 January 2014, week 1

​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. This issue covers the period of 29 December 2013 – 4 January 2014 and includes the following: 

Chikungunya outbreak in the Caribbean 

There are now 89 PCR-confirmed cases and 20 probable cases in the French part of Saint Martin and one case in the Dutch part of the island. Martinique has eight confirmed cases, French Guyana has one (imported from Martinique), Guadeloupe three, and Saint Barthélemy has nine laboratory-confirmed cases.

 

On 6 December 2013, France first reported two laboratory-confirmed cases of chikungunya in Saint Martin. This was the first documented autochthonous transmission of the chikungunya virus in the Americas.

Seasonal influenza 

In the last week of 2013, all 11 reporting countries recorded low-intensity influenza activity and all but one reported stable or decreasing trends. Of 46 sentinel specimens tested across seven countries, six were positive for influenza viruses.

 

There has been no evidence of sustained influenza activity in Europe this season.

Measles and rubella ongoing EU outbreaks

No new outbreaks have been reported in the EU during the past month, however there are ongoing outbreaks.