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.
ECDC initiated a survey of EU/EEA countries to evaluate preparedness planning and risk mitigation initiatives implemented at the country level for people exposed to highly pathogenic avian influenza virus A(H5N1).
This protocol sets out measures for the follow-up and management of individuals exposed to infected animals and human cases of avian influenza, and for the public health management of possible and confirmed human cases.
To assess the level of preparedness of EU/EEA Member States to respond to zoonotic avian flu outbreaks, ECDC has carried out two surveys - one assessing the laboratory capacity for molecular diagnosis and characterisation of zoonotic influenza viruses, and the other focusing on measures applied to protect exposed people during outbreaks of highly pathogenic avian influenza.
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).