The aim of this evaluation was to review the implementation, determine the lessons learnt and formulate recommendations to strengthen ECDC’s capacity to mobilise experts for field deployment to support future outbreak response initiatives, both in and outside the EU.
Hantavirus infections are widely distributed across Europe, with the exception of some Mediterranean countries which reported a very low number of cases.
An original outbreak of Ebola virus disease that begun in West Africa in December 2013, mainly affecting Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone has now ended.
The EHFG is the leading health policy event in the EU and takes place annually. It provides a major platform for decision-makers in various fields of public health and health care.
ECDC Director Marc Sprenger addressed MEPs of the European Parliament’s Committee on the Environment, Public Health and Food Safety regarding the ongoing Ebola virus disease outbreak in West Africa.
ECDC promotes the performance of external quality assessment (EQA) schemes, in which laboratories are sent simulated clinical specimens or bacterial isolates for testing by routine or reference laboratory methods. EQA schemes, or laboratory proficiency testing, provide information about the accuracy of different characterisation and typing methods as well as antimicrobial susceptibility testing (AST) and the sensitivity of the methods in place to detect a certain pathogen or novel resistance patterns.