Between 2018 and 2020, nearly 20 000 surgical site infections (SSIs) were reported from a total of over 1.2 million surgical procedures in 13 EU/EEA countries participating in ECDC-coordinated SSI surveillance. Over 2 500 hospitals are part of this surveillance network.
Denmark has reported a travel-related case of malaria caused by Plasmodium cynomolgi in a Danish traveller returning from a visit to forested areas in peninsular Malaysia and Thailand during August-September 2018.
The Carnival season will last from 1 to 9 March 2019. In Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, 1 million participants are expected, including many travellers from Europe
On European Antibiotic Awareness Day, ECDC publishes the results of two point-prevalence surveys of healthcare-associated infections and antimicrobial use in hospitals and in long-term care facilities in the EU/EEA.
On 4 October 2017, Italy reported through the Early Warning and Response System (EWRS) the detection of four Plasmodium falciparum malaria cases in the Apulia region. Cases are 21 to 37-year-old men, originally from Africa. All stated that they had been in Italy for more than three months. Dates for onset of symptoms ranged from 20 to 27 September 2017. The cases are agricultural workers in Ginosa and Castellaneta. Malaria vectors such as Anopheles labranchiae and Anopheles superpictus are present in Italy.
Hantavirus infections are widely distributed across Europe, with the exception of some Mediterranean countries which reported a very low number of cases.
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.