Nearly 7,000 excess deaths from tuberculosis occurred in the WHO European Region in the three years of the pandemic from 2020 - 2022, compared to what experts had expected based on pre-2020 estimates.
Measles cases are expected to continue increasing in the EU/EEA in the coming months due to sub-optimal vaccination coverage for measles-containing vaccines (MCV) in a number of EU/EEA countries.
The European Respiratory Diseases Forecasting Hub (RespiCast) is open for weekly submission of several respiratory disease indicators such as influenza-like-illness, acute respiratory infection and COVID-19.
Japanese encephalitis virus is present in Asia and Oceania, from Japan to India, Pakistan and Australia. Outbreaks are erratic and spatially and temporally limited phenomena, occurring quite unpredictably. The virus is a leading cause of viral encephalitis in Asia, with 30 000 to 50 000 cases reported annually.
Several viral and bacterial respiratory pathogens are expected to continue co-circulating at variable levels during the coming months, and contribute to increased morbidity and mortality during this period. This is typical of every winter season.
To assess the level of preparedness of EU/EEA Member States to respond to zoonotic avian flu outbreaks, ECDC has carried out two surveys - one assessing the laboratory capacity for molecular diagnosis and characterisation of zoonotic influenza viruses, and the other focusing on measures applied to protect exposed people during outbreaks of highly pathogenic avian influenza.
Campylobacteriosis and salmonellosis were the most frequently reported zoonotic diseases in humans in the EU in 2022. For West Nile virus, an increase of the number of infections was observed.