On 21 October, French authorities reported a second autochthonous case of Zika virus (ZIKV) disease in Hyères city, Var department, France with no travel history to Zika-endemic countries.
Denmark has reported a travel-related case of malaria caused by Plasmodium cynomolgi in a Danish traveller returning from a visit to forested areas in peninsular Malaysia and Thailand during August-September 2018.
Dutch health authorities have recently reported an increase of hepatitis A infections particularly affecting men who have sex with men. With the on-going Pride events across Europe, ECDC stresses the importance of ensuring hepatitis A vaccination, (advice for) safer sex and personal hygiene practices including washing hands and genital areas before and after sex to avoid infection.
ECDC has deployed an epidemiologist under the EU Civil Protection Mechanism to assist in the emergency response in Mozambique. The mission will support the humanitarian response with public health assessments and epidemiological advice. ECDC is also producing a risk assessment on the health risks related to this event.
The Carnival season will last from 1 to 9 March 2019. In Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, 1 million participants are expected, including many travellers from Europe
Since the last epidemiological update on 31 August 2018, European countries have reported 530 new West Nile virus (WNV) cases and 52 deaths. The number of WNV infections reported so far exceeds the total number of infections in the previous five years.