Adjustments to surveillance practices in the EU will enhance preparedness and public health response to emerging infectious diseases, thereby helping to contain human and economic costs. These are the conclusions of an article published this week in Science magazine, describing a study co-authored by ECDC.
The European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) and the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) have published their annual report on zoonoses and food-borne outbreaks in the European Union for 2010.
The chikungunya virus outbreak that occurred in 2007 in northern Italy (Emilia-Romagna region) prompted the development of a large scale monitoring system of the population density of Aedes albopictus (Skuse, 1894), comparable at the provincial and municipal levels. In 2007, egg density data presented an aggregated distribution (VMR >1) and Taylor's power law was applied to calculate the minimum number of ovitraps needed to obtain the prefixed precision levels: D=0.2 in the areas where the chikungunya epidemic occurred and D=0.3 in all the other urban areas >600 ha.
The authors describe the epidemiology of invasive Hib and nontype b H. influenzae infections in children <15 years of age in the United Kingdom from 1994 until 2008, and show that the resurgence in Hib disease during the years 1999-2003 did not affect the epidemiology of invasive nontype b H. influenzae disease in children, which provides further support against serotype replacement.
European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) has issued a new report from its Task Force on the Shiga toxin-producing E. coli (STEC) outbreak in Germany and France. The Task Force has now concluded that one lot of fenugreek seeds imported from Egypt and used to produce sprouts is the most likely common link between the two outbreaks. EFSA continues to advise consumers not to grow sprouts for their own consumption and not to eat sprouts or sprouted seeds unless they have been cooked thoroughly.
On Friday 24 June, France reported a cluster of eight patients with bloody diarrhoea, after having participated in an event in the commune of Bègles around Bordeaux on 8 June. Of these, seven have developed HUS, a severe complication of E. coli infection. In three of the patients, infection with E. coli O104:H4 has been confirmed.
On June 14, Eurosurveillance published new information on the characteristics of the German outbreak strain of E.coli and how these microbiological findings have been shared in real time by public health microbiology experts to disseminate best laboratory practice for case detection and public health investigations across Europe and beyond.
Today, the German authorities published a press release on the current Shiga toxin-producing E.coli outbreak. In their joint statement they recommended in particular to abstain from eating raw sprouts.
As parts of Germany are considered potential colonization areas for A. albopictus, monitoring the trends of Chikungunya importation to Germany is a prerequisite for early detection of potential autochthonus cases.