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).
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.
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.
Today, the German authorities published a press release on the current Shiga toxin-producing E.coli outbreak. In their joint statement they recommended in particular to abstain from eating raw sprouts.
ECDC and EFSA have just launched the annual report on zoonoses and food-borne outbreaks in the European Union for 2009. The report shows that Salmonella cases in humans fell by 17% in 2009, marking a decrease for the fifth consecutive year
First annual meeting of the network since it was transferred to ECDC in March 2010. Among the objectives of the meeting is to to present the epidemiological situation of diphtheria in Europe for 2009.
The European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) and ECDC have published a joint opinion providing an overview of the latest available scientific information on possible links between Transmissible Spongiform Encephalopathies (TSEs) in animals and humans. This is the first comprehensive review of epidemiological and laboratory studies on possible links between TSEs in animals and humans at EU level.