Since November 2011, Schmallenberg virus has been reported in cattle, sheep and goats in Germany, the Netherlands, Belgium, the United Kingdom, France, Luxembourg, Italy and more recently in Spain.
The European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) and the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) have published their annual report on zoonoses and food-borne outbreaks in the European Union for 2010.
The coordination of European FWD outbreaks can be difficult to manage. In order to help Member State countries with the task, ECDC is launching an online toolkit which provides investigators with a series of tools for the investigation of an outbreak that involves at least two EU Member States.
Since November 2011, a newly recognised virus, provisionally named ‘Schmallenberg’ virus, has been reported in cattle, sheep and goats in Germany, the Netherlands, Belgium, the United Kingdom and France. Additionally, one bison has been confirmed positive for Schmallenberg virus in Germany.
Universal screening of pregnant women is feasible and has led to immunisation in nearly all identified cases in Denmark. As a consequence of the study the National Board of Health has made universal HBsAg screening of pregnant women permanent in the country.
This report describes the investigation of two cases of febrile respiratory illness caused by swine influenza A (H3N2) viruses identified on the 19th and the 26th August 2011 in two different states in the US (Indiana and Pennsylvania).