On 3 August 2015, Spain notified a case of chikungunya virus infection in a resident of the city of Gandía in the autonomous community of Valencia. On 11 September 2015, authorities in Spain acknowledged that the case was a false positive. This rapid risk assessment reviews the later discarded chikungunya case reported from Spain without travel history to endemic areas and the risk of possible onwards transmission.
An outbreak of Zika virus infections affected the Americas and the Pacific region. On 1 February 2016 WHO declared a Public Health Emergency of International Concern (PHEIC) regarding clusters of microcephaly cases and neurological disorders in some areas affected by Zika virus.
The European public health and blood authorities responded to the threat posed by West Nile virus to blood safety of blood and blood components by adopting preventive measures which are defined in the EU blood legislation, professional guides of the Council of Europe and the EU WNV blood transfusion preparedness plan. The measures include the deferral of blood donors that have visited or residing in a NUTS 3 area considered to be affected (i.e. with at least one confirmed case).
The information on current Zika transmission is useful to evaluate the risk for people who have recently returned from or are planning to travel to countries with active local transmission.
The information on current Zika transmission is useful to evaluate the risk for people who have recently returned from or are planning to travel to countries with active local transmission.
ECDC documents on Zika preparedness in EU: Preparedness guide for diseases transmitted by Aedes; Zika virus and safety of substances of human origin, and policy briefing.
On 14-15 January 2015 an ECDC consultation gathered public health experts, entomologists and epidemiologists from Europe, as well as experts from WHO, CDC and PacNet, to review the EU preparedness to dengue and chikungunya importation and onwards transmission and produce a roadmap towards improved EU preparedness.