Rapid risk/outbreaks assessment aim at supporting the countries and the European Commission in their preparedness and response to a public health threat. They provide a timely summary and risk assessment of a public health threat for EU/EEA countries related to a specific event. They also include potential options for response. As outbreaks or public health events develop, ECDC may issue updated risk assessments.
This report presents the results of the seventh round of the external quality assessment (EQA-7) scheme for Listeria monocytogenes (L. monocytogenes) typing organised for national public health reference laboratories (NPHRLs) providing data to the Food- and Waterborne Diseases and Zoonoses Network (FWD-Net) managed by ECDC.
Yellow fever (YF) is a mosquito-borne infection, distributed in west, central and east Africa and in South America. The disease can cause a wide spectrum of symptoms, from mild to fatal. In severe cases there may be spontaneous haemorrhage. Mortality of these clinical cases can be as high as 80%, on a par with Ebola, Marburg and other haemorrhagic viral infections.
Each year on 5 May, the “SAVE LIVES: Clean Your Hands” campaign takes place as part of a major global effort led by the World Health Organization to mobilise people around the world to increase adherence to hand hygiene in all healthcare settings, thus protecting healthcare workers and patients from healthcare-associated infections caused by various pathogens.
A collaborative study between ECDC, the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) and the European Union Reference Laboratory (EURL) for Listeria monocytogenes* found a relatively high degree of dissemination of certain listeriosis bacteria in the food chain and in the human population across the European Union (EU).
This report presents the objectives, methods, results, and conclusions of a collaborative study called the 'European Listeria Typing Exercise’ (ELiTE), as well as recommendations for further studies.