Italy is currently experiencing four clusters of autochthonous chikungunya cases in the cities of Anzio, Latina and Rome in the Lazio region, and the city of Guardavalle Marina in the Calabria region.
Two related clusters involving autochthonous transmission of chikungunya virus have been detected in the cities of Anzio and Rome. This rapid risk assessment provides detailed event background information and assesses the threat for the European Union.
This rapid risk assessment has been produced In the context of a cluster of four confirmed cases and one probable locally-acquired case of chikungunya in Var department, in southern France.
Since April 2016, Denmark, France, the Netherlands, Spain, Sweden and United Kingdom (Wales) have reported severe enterovirus infections associated with a variety of different strains. This rapid risk assessment considers the risk for EU/EEA countries related to severe enterovirus infections.
ECDC has published a rapid risk assessment due to a localised outbreak of neurological symptoms associated with enterovirus A71 (EV-A71) in Catalonia, Spain.
Most EV infections, including EV-A71, result in asymptomatic infection. Most symptomatic EV-A71 infections manifest as a self-limiting hand, foot and mouth disease and only a very small proportion of patients develop severe and life-threatening disease. The current outbreak is notable in terms of its magnitude and the severity of symptoms of the reported cases.
In November, France and the United Kingdom both reported sporadic cases of neurological disease involving enterovirus 68 (EV-D68) detection. As a result, ECDC has updated its rapid risk assessment on EV-D68, first triggered by reports from North America. To date, European acute flaccid paralysis (AFP)/enhanced enterovirus surveillance has not detected unusual clusters or unexpected trends.
This risk assessment considers the outbreak of chikungunya on the Caribbean island of Saint Martin in early December 2013 which expanded through the Caribbean during the first half of 2014. This is the first documented autochthonous transmission of chikungunya virus in the Americas.