This issue of the ECDC Communicable Disease Threats Report (CDTR) covers the period 28 April - 4 May 2024 and includes updates on cholera, MERS-CoV, SARS-CoV-2, an overview of respiratory virus epidemiology in the EU/EEA, highly pathogenic avian influenza A(H5N1) in cattle and a related human case, Crimean-Congo haemorrhagic fever, and Lassa fever.
This issue of the ECDC Communicable Disease Threats Report (CDTR) covers the period 21–27 April 2024 and includes updates on respiratory virus epidemiology in the EU/EEA, West Nile virus, SARS-CoV-2 variant classification and Cholera.
Influenza, SARS-CoV-2 and RSV activity in EU/EEA Member States continue to decrease or remain stable at low levels. Cases, including severe infections, can still occur and it therefore remains essential to continue testing patients presenting with severe acute respiratory symptoms in order to guide treatment and inform epidemiological assessments.
The decline in the reported number of new transmissions of hepatitis B virus (HBV) and hepatitis C virus (HCV) infections across European Union (EU) and European Economic Area (EEA) countries has continued.
In this report, we provide an overview of the data reported by countries in the EU and EEA in 2023 to describe progress towards the 2025 interim targets for hepatitis elimination as outlined in the WHO European Region Action Plan 2022–2030.
In 2022, 23 273 cases of hepatitis C were reported in 29 EU/EEA countries. Excluding countries that only reported acute cases, 23 249 cases were notified, corresponding to a crude rate of 6.2 cases per 100 000 population.
Recent ECDC data show that despite progress in prevention and control efforts, the hepatitis B and hepatitis C viruses (HBV and HCV) continue to pose significant public health challenges in the European Union and European Economic Area (EU/EEA).