This issue of the ECDC Communicable Disease Threats Report (CDTR) the period 21-27 January 2024 and includes updates on SARS-CoV-2, influenza, cholera, chikungunya, dengue and zika.
ECDC Director Marc Sprenger addressed MEPs of the European Parliament’s Committee on the Environment, Public Health and Food Safety regarding the ongoing Ebola virus disease outbreak in West Africa.
ECDC promotes the performance of external quality assessment (EQA) schemes, in which laboratories are sent simulated clinical specimens or bacterial isolates for testing by routine or reference laboratory methods. EQA schemes, or laboratory proficiency testing, provide information about the accuracy of different characterisation and typing methods as well as antimicrobial susceptibility testing (AST) and the sensitivity of the methods in place to detect a certain pathogen or novel resistance patterns.