On 20 and 24 November 2019, respectively, the Dutch public health authorities confirmed two imported cases of Lassa fever from Sierra Leone. Both were Dutch healthcare workers who worked in a rural hospital in Sierra Leone.
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.
As of 30 August 2018, Algeria has reported 74 confirmed cholera cases from six northern and coastal areas of the country. This is the first cholera outbreak reported in Algeria in more than 20 years.
This rapid risk assessment addresses the public health risk associated with the early occurrence of a large number of West Nile virus infections in the EU/EEA and EU neighbouring countries in 2018.
The production of this rapid risk assessment was triggered by a report by the Czech Republic of two travelassociated cases of cholera from Zanzibar (Tanzania) and the cholera epidemics in the Horn of Africa and the Gulf of Aden.
This rapid risk assessment considers the risk to the EU of an outbreak of invasive meningococcal disease in the UK and Sweden associated with the 23rd World Scout Jamboree in Japan.
The recent floods in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, and Serbia caused substantial damage. Following the floods, there is a risk of increased transmission of vector-borne infections to the populations.
This rapid risk assessment provides a series of conclusions and recommendations based on the analysis of several European cases of invasive meningococcal disease among men who have sex with men caused by N. meningitidis serogroup C.
West Nile virus (WNV) is an emerging pathogen whose ecology and epidemiology extend across multiple interfaces. As the epidemiology and transmission cycle of WNV is complex, assessing the risk of WNV being transmitted to humans is not always straightforward. Therefore, the WNV risk assessment tool has been developed to provide operational guidance in support of the risk assessment process.