Early in 2015, a shortage of acellular pertussis-containing vaccines was brought to the attention of ECDC. This risk assessment provides a detailed list of mitigation options available to Member States.
This risk assessment was triggered by two cases of paralytic poliomyelitis in children, caused by circulating vaccine-derived poliovirus type 1 (cVDPV1) in Ukraine during June and July 2015.
This rapid risk assessment considers the risk to the EU of an outbreak of invasive meningococcal disease in the UK and Sweden associated with the 23rd World Scout Jamboree in Japan.
This update was prompted in order to reassess the risk for European travellers to South Korea now that there have been no additional cases reported since 4 July 2015.
This rapid risk assessment concludes that there is currently no indication that these cases represent a significant outbreak of diphtheria among refugees in Europe.
The detection, management and public health response to the first case of diphtheria in Spain in nearly 30 years has highlighted challenges for preparedness against diphtheria in the European Union.
This risk assessment was triggered by a large cluster of confirmed MERS-CoV cases in South Korea, generated by a primary case imported from the Middle East. This is the largest cluster observed outside of the Arabian Peninsula so far.
An outbreak of measles involving 67 cases (median age 15 years) has been reported in the French region of Alsace, in the department of Haut-Rhin bordering Germany and Switzerland.
Human cases and fatalities due to influenza A(H5N1) virus continue to increase in Egypt, with cases from the country now accounting for the highest number of human cases reported worldwide.