European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) has issued a new report from its Task Force on the Shiga toxin-producing E. coli (STEC) outbreak in Germany and France. The Task Force has now concluded that one lot of fenugreek seeds imported from Egypt and used to produce sprouts is the most likely common link between the two outbreaks. EFSA continues to advise consumers not to grow sprouts for their own consumption and not to eat sprouts or sprouted seeds unless they have been cooked thoroughly.
In his speech to the Informal Health Council on 5th July, ECDC Director Marc Sprenger outlined the lessons learnt from the EHEC/STEC outbreak in EU, as well as the need to strengthen EU cooperation against epidemics.
ECDC has previously summarised information concerning the appearance of narcolepsy following the use of a specific pandemic vaccine (Pandemrix®) in children and adolescents in three European Countries.
The objective of WHO’s Global Influenza Vaccine Action Plan (which began in 2006) is to increase the use and supply of influenza vaccines on a routine basis.
In recent years a controversial topic has been whether or not antivirals, specifically the neuraminidase inhibitors, oseltamivir and zanamivir, reduce the likelihood of severe complications of seasonal or pandemic influenza if given soon after infection with influenza viruses.
On Friday 24 June, France reported a cluster of eight patients with bloody diarrhoea, after having participated in an event in the commune of Bègles around Bordeaux on 8 June. Of these, seven have developed HUS, a severe complication of E. coli infection. In three of the patients, infection with E. coli O104:H4 has been confirmed.
On June 14, Eurosurveillance published new information on the characteristics of the German outbreak strain of E.coli and how these microbiological findings have been shared in real time by public health microbiology experts to disseminate best laboratory practice for case detection and public health investigations across Europe and beyond.
The authors of this study from 12 European Union member states used statistical modelling and a novel European approach for combining data to explore the potential causes that might explain difference in transmission dynamics observed during the early stages of the 2009 influenza A(H1N1) pandemic.
In the context of the ongoing outbreak of Shiga toxin-producing E. coli (STEC) that affects by now citizens from 13 EU member states, it is crucial not only to align the efforts regarding investigation and control of the outbreak but also to share knowledge among practitioners across Europe on the patho-physiological and clinical characteristics of infection caused by this unusual epidemic strain, and review patient management options.