With over 142 000 people newly diagnosed with HIV in 2014, the WHO European Region recorded the highest number of newly diagnosed infections in one year since the start of reporting in the 1980s. In the countries of the EU/EEA, the HIV epidemic also persists largely unchanged.
ECDC comments on two studies published on 14 October 2015 in the New England Journal of Medicine provide insights into sexual transmission of Ebola virus and the duration of virus persistence in semen.
Despite a dramatic improvement of the epidemiological situation in Guinea in 2015, the elimination of human transmission of the Ebola virus will require sustained efforts over the next few months. ECDC will continue deploying experts to Guinea to contribute to the field work related to surveillance and response activities, under the World Health Organization's Global Outbreak Alert and Response Network (GOARN) umbrella.
On 12 May 2015, Italian authorities informed about a confirmed case of Ebola Virus Disease (EVD) in a healthcare worker who recently returned from Sierra Leone after working in an EVD treatment centre from 15 February to 6 May 2015.
A report published on 1 May indicates that the Ebola virus can persist in seminal fluid of a person who recovered from Ebola virus disease for longer than previously known and can potentially lead to sexual transmission of Ebola virus.
On March 3 2015, the European Union organised a high-level conference on the Ebola epidemic. The purpose was two-fold: first, to take stock of the ongoing emergency response and adapt it to the evolving situation on the ground, leading to eradication of the disease; second, to plan for the long term and support the recovery and resilience of the affected countries, including the development of their health systems.
As reinforcement to help fight Ebola in the affected West African countries, the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control is deploying four teams of French-speaking epidemiologists to support surveillance and response in Guinea.
Since December 2013 and as of 17 December 2014, WHO has reported 18 603 confirmed, probable and suspected cases of Ebola virus disease (EVD) in five affected countries (Guinea, Liberia, Mali, Sierra Leone and the United States of America) and three previously affected countries (Nigeria, Senegal and Spain).
On the occasion of World AIDS Day, ECDC launched the latest surveillance data on HIV in the European Region. 2014 theme: 10 years of data show that Europe is not curbing the epidemic
The latest assessment includes additional details regarding risk of onward transmission in the EU, the evolution of infectiousness during the course of the disease, more detailed options for risk reduction in healthcare settings and an update of the global number of cases.