An increased reporting of shigellosis cases, mainly caused by Shigella sonnei, among travellers returning from Cabo Verde has been ongoing in the European Union/European Economic Area (EU/EEA), the United Kingdom (UK), and the United States (US) since September 2022. This outbreak evolved rapidly during November and December 2022.
This document assesses the risk of further spread of S. sonnei amongst MSM and in the broader population in EU/EEA countries, resulting from the current increase in extensively-drug resistant S. sonnei infections.
On 20 and 24 November 2019, respectively, the Dutch public health authorities confirmed two imported cases of Lassa fever from Sierra Leone. Both were Dutch healthcare workers who worked in a rural hospital in Sierra Leone.
This rapid risk assessment addresses the public health risk associated with the early occurrence of a large number of West Nile virus infections in the EU/EEA and EU neighbouring countries in 2018.
The occurrence of shigellosis among refugees is not unexpected because shigellosis is endemic in the countries they originate from, as well as in some of the countries they travel through.
The recent floods in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, and Serbia caused substantial damage. Following the floods, there is a risk of increased transmission of vector-borne infections to the populations.
West Nile virus (WNV) is an emerging pathogen whose ecology and epidemiology extend across multiple interfaces. As the epidemiology and transmission cycle of WNV is complex, assessing the risk of WNV being transmitted to humans is not always straightforward. Therefore, the WNV risk assessment tool has been developed to provide operational guidance in support of the risk assessment process.
Within the context of the West Nile virus outbreaks, an ECDC mission was conducted at the end of the transmission season to support the Greek authorities regarding further response and prevention activities on West Nile virus infections.
On 7 and 10 July, the Hellenic Centre for Disease Control and Prevention (KEELPNO) reported the first two human cases of West Nile virus (WNV) infection in Greece this year. When looking at the epidemiology of WNV infection in Greece since 2010, one can observe a progressive geographical expansion of WNV transmission throughout the country. For this reason, these newly confirmed cases in Athens do not come unexpected.