Following the occurrence of several hospital-acquired malaria cases in the European Union (EU), ECDC has assessed the risk related to transmission of the parasite in hospital settings.
Most reported malaria cases in EU were travel related. Five cases were reported as locally acquired: two in France and three in Spain. The latest data on reported cases in EU is available in the 2016 Annual epidemiological report.
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.
This document assesses the risk to human health posed by a multi-country incident of botulism neurotoxin type E, possibly associated with consumption of a commercially-available dried and salted fish product.
This rapid risk assessment assesses the specific risk related to importation and spread of vector borne diseases in the context of a large number of migrants to the EU. It does not cover other health needs for these populations.