In 2018, Norway [1] and the Netherlands [2] published reports from national public health institutes on increased Echovirus 30 (E30) detections associated with an increase in the number of meningitis or meningoencephalitis cases. Since the beginning of 2018, 407 E30 cases have been reported to ECDC in 10 EU/EEA countries based on an Epidemic Intelligence Information System–Vaccine Preventable Diseases (EPIS-VPD) data call.
A new case of Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus (MERS-CoV) has been confirmed by Public Health England (PHE) on the 23 August. Health authorities are identifying close contacts of the patient as a precautionary measure. This is the fifth case of MERS-CoV diagnosed in England, where there have been no cases since 2013.
Since the beginning of the year, certain EU/EEA public health institutes have observed an upsurge in the number of positive enterovirus detections, especially Echovirus 30 (E30) cases. Norway [1] and the Netherlands [2] have published a report from national public health institutes on the increased E30 detections.
Fanny Chereau, EPIET fellow from cohort 2016, was deployed with GOARN (Global Outbreak Alert and Response Network) to support the response to the plague outbreak in Madagascar, on October 2017.
Since 23 August 2017 there is an ongoing epidemic of plague in Madagascar. As of 20 October 2017 WHO has reported 1 365 cases and 106 deaths leading to 8 % case fatality. Nine hundred and fifteen (67%) cases are pneumonic plague cases. The high proportion of pneumonic plague among cases is of concern, indicating that droplet transmission is a driver of the spread of plague in Madagascar beyond the areas that have been considered as endemic for bubonic plague to date. In the last weeks, the number of new confirmed cases seem to be plateauing, indicating that the outbreak is gradually being controlled.
ECDC monitors and reports on influenza transmission and virus circulation in Europe on a weekly basis throughout the flu season, in collaboration with WHO Regional Office for Europe, in the report Flu News Europe.
Since the last update by ECDC in its risk assessment of 11 June 2015, 18 new cases and one death in a previously reported case have been reported by South Korean authorities.
A steep increase of human cases of avian influenza A(H7N9) has been reported since the beginning of December 2016 from China. At present, the most immediate threat to EU citizens is to those living or visiting influenza A(H7N9)-affected areas in China concludes the updated rapid risk assessment.