In 2019, the hajj will take place between 9 and 14 August. The risk for EU/EEA citizens to become infected with communicable diseases during the 2019 hajj is considered low, thanks to the vaccination requirements for travelling to Makkah (Mecca) and the Saudi Arabian preparedness plans that address the management of health hazards during and after hajj.
In April 2019, Finland reported false-negative or equivocal results in patients tested for Chlamydia trachomatis (CT) using Aptima Combo 2 Assay (Hologic) (AC2).
Illnesses caused by infectious diseases are common in children in schools or other childcare settings. Currently there is no common EU approach to the control of communicable diseases in schools or other childcare settings, and existing information is uncertain.
This risk assessment was triggered by two cases of paralytic poliomyelitis in children, caused by circulating vaccine-derived poliovirus type 1 (cVDPV1) in Ukraine during June and July 2015.
This rapid risk assessment examines the implications of the temporary recommendations for EU Member States and assesses whether the developments leading to the declaration of a PHEIC represent an increased risk of WPV importation to Member States of the European Union.
The confirmed circulation of wild-type poliovirus (WPV) in Israel and the outbreak of poliomyelitis in Syria mean that there is a high risk the disease will be reintroduced into the EU/EEA.
Following the announcement by WHO of a cluster of cases of acute flaccid paralysis in Syria, ECDC conducted a risk assessment and concludes that this does pose a risk that polio might be imported to the EU. The Risk Assessment includes number of recommendations for EU Member States.
The EU/EEA countries and the rest of the WHO European Region, have been officially polio-free since 2002. However, wild-type polio virus 1 (WPV1) has been isolated in sewage and in the faeces of asymptomatic carriers in Israel since February 2013. In this risk assessment ECDC looks at the potential impact of this public health event on the risk of poliovirus being imported and re-established into circulation in EU/EEA.