An ECDC expert was in Zambia from 25 March to support in the response to the recent cholera outbreak as part of and funded by the ‘ECDC for Africa CDC’ project.
This report provides updated baseline data for monitoring future changes in the distribution of autochthonous Crimean-Congo haemorrhagic fever and its associated vectors for Europe and its neighbouring areas.
Poliovirus is highly contagious and infected individuals shed virus in the faeces and from oral secretions, thus the mode of transmission is person-to-person, both via the faecal-oral and the oral-oral routes.
Haemophilus influenzae type b (Hib) is an obligate human pathogen and an important cause of invasive bacterial infections in both children and adults, with the highest incidence among young children.
This issue of the ECDC Communicable Disease Threats Report (CDTR) covers the period 16-22 July 2023 and includes updates on avian influenza, Echovirus 11, COVID-19, West Nile virus, poliomyelitis, and botulism.
Globally, as of 9 August, 19 cases of polio due to wild poliovirus type 1 (WPV1) and 223 cases due to circulating vaccine derived poliovirus (cVDPV) have been reported this year. In 2022, the cVDPV cases have been reported in 15 countries, with 93% of the cases attributed to cVDPV type 2 (cVDPV2).
Polio is an infectious disease mostly contracted by children. One in two hundred people develop incurable paralysis after infection. In 1955, a vaccine was invented and was introduced on a wide scale. Thanks to global efforts, polio was eliminated from the Western Hemisphere by 1994, and has greatly decreased worldwide.