Rapid risk/outbreaks assessment aim at supporting the countries and the European Commission in their preparedness and response to a public health threat. They provide a timely summary and risk assessment of a public health threat for EU/EEA countries related to a specific event. They also include potential options for response. As outbreaks or public health events develop, ECDC may issue updated risk assessments.
On 24 March 2017, the German authorities reported the contamination of a ‘do-it-yourself’ bacterial gene engineering CRISPR kit produced in the US. This publication assesses the risk related to the use of ‘do-it-yourself’ CRISPR-associated gene engineering kit contaminated with pathogenic bacteria.
The report aims to provide a critical review of evidence on the barriers and drivers of seasonal influenza vaccination coverage in the EU/EEA. The report focuses on high-risk groups where high coverage of seasonal flu vaccination is most important. The 2009 Council of the European Union Recommendation on seasonal influenza vaccination encourages countries to implement measures that would increase seasonal influenza vaccination uptake to at least 75% for defined older age groups, and, if possible, for other risk groups. In support of this, the ECDC report summarises the evidence on what are the barriers and what are the drivers for seasonal influenza vaccination by each risk group
Based on a request from the Ministry of Health of the Republic of Latvia, ECDC and WHO/EURO conducted a joint country visit from 22 to 26 October 2012, with the objective of providing a comprehensive overview of tuberculosis prevention, control and care in the country.