’Prevention of infections among people who inject drugs is achievable and effective – if it is properly executed’, stresses ECDC Director Marc Sprenger.
In a joint seminar by Directorate General for Health and Consumer Affairs (DG SANCO), European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) and ECDC at the European Parliament, Marc Sprenger highlighted the decrease of Salmonella infections in EU.
The seminar addressed issues such as the human cost of zoonoses, trends in food-borne diseases, challenges and lessons learnt from epidemiological investigations on the 2011 E.coli outbreak and salmonella controls.
The Shiga toxin-producing E. coli outbreak in Germany during 2011 showed the value of a solid microbiology network and the need to increase the speed of notification of cases of infectious diseases in Europe.
This work is an updated revision of the available information on Portuguese ixodid tick species. It includes data on tick biology, ecology, taxonomy and host/pathogen-associations.
Current concerns over the potential impacts of climate change and the increased movement between countries of people and companion animals on the distribution of ectoparasites, highlight the need for accurate understanding of existing prevalence patterns.
The second ECDC advisory group meeting will discuss progress and future challenges in reporting and monitoring following the commitment outlined in the Dublin Declaration.
Recently, in the province of Trapani (Western Sicily), some overwintering specimens of the argasid tick Argas (Persicargas) persicus (Oken, 1818) were observed and collected. Morphological and genetic analysis were utilized in order to reach a definitive identification.