The decline in the reported number of new transmissions of hepatitis B virus (HBV) and hepatitis C virus (HCV) infections across European Union (EU) and European Economic Area (EEA) countries has continued.
This joint guidance by the ECDC and EMCDDA aims to strengthen the evidence base for developing national strategies for preventing and controlling infections and infectious diseases among people who inject drugs.
This issue of the ECDC Communicable Disease Threats Report (CDTR) the period 4-10 February 2024 and includes updates on avian influenza, measles, MERS-CoV, COVID-19, swine influenza, respiratory virus epidemiology, Western equine encephalitis, Hepatitis E, and the Chinese New Year.
Rubella is a mild febrile rash illness caused by rubella virus. It is transmitted from person to person via droplets (the virus is present in throat secretions). It affects mainly, but not only, children and when pregnant women are infected, it may result in malformation of the foetus. Humans are the only reservoir of infection.
This document is an update of the joint guidance that was published in 2011 by the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) and the European Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug Addiction (EMCDDA).