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ECDC, after conducting rapid risk assessments, has concluded that the risk of importation of infectious diseases from North Africa to the EU is  considered to be low. From a public health perspective, the most urgent concern is related to the poor living conditions of the migrants, such as overcrowding and poor sanitation.

Most European countries reported no changes in the rate of newly diagnosed cases of HIV or HIV prevalence in IDU in 2011.

Following the announcement by WHO of a cluster of cases of acute flaccid paralysis in Syria, ECDC conducted a risk assessment and concludes that this does pose a risk that polio might be imported to the EU. The Risk Assessment includes number of recommendations for EU Member States.

​The confirmed circulation of wild-type poliovirus (WPV) in Israel and the outbreak of poliomyelitis in Syria mean that there is a high risk the disease will be reintroduced into the EU/EEA.

Following reports from the Netherlands of two cases of louse-borne relapsing fever in asylum seekers coming from Eritrea, ECDC has assessed the risk to Europe.

This rapid risk assessment concludes that there is currently no indication that these cases represent a significant outbreak of diphtheria among refugees in Europe.

​This rapid risk assessment assesses the specific risk related to importation and spread of vector borne diseases in the context of a large number of migrants to the EU. It does not cover other health needs for these populations.

​This issue of the ECDC Communicable Disease Threats Report (CDTR) covers the period 8 - 14 November 2015 and includes updates on influenza, West Nile fever, MERS, Ebola, dengue fever, polio and avian influenza.

This risk assessment focuses on the threat to the refugee population from communicable diseases and assesses the situation in Europe, associated with the current movements of refugees across the region and in the context of their living conditions and the approaching winter, access to shelter, sanitation and health services.

The occurrence of shigellosis among refugees is not unexpected because shigellosis is endemic in the countries they originate from, as well as in some of the countries they travel through.