In 2019, the hajj will take place between 9 and 14 August. The risk for EU/EEA citizens to become infected with communicable diseases during the 2019 hajj is considered low, thanks to the vaccination requirements for travelling to Makkah (Mecca) and the Saudi Arabian preparedness plans that address the management of health hazards during and after hajj.
On 31 August 2016 the autonomous Community of Madrid, Spain, reported two cases of infection with Crimean–Congo haemorrhagic fever (CCHF) virus. This document assesses the risk associated with the occurrence of two cases of Crimean–Congo haemorrhagic fever in Spain.
Illnesses caused by infectious diseases are common in children in schools or other childcare settings. Currently there is no common EU approach to the control of communicable diseases in schools or other childcare settings, and existing information is uncertain.
This document assesses the risk to human health posed by a multi-country foodborne outbreak of Shiga toxin-producing Escherichia coli (STEC) infections associated with haemolytic uraemic syndrome taking place in the European Union (EU).
This rapid risk assessment considers the risk to the EU of an outbreak of invasive meningococcal disease in the UK and Sweden associated with the 23rd World Scout Jamboree in Japan.
This rapid risk assessment provides a series of conclusions and recommendations based on the analysis of several European cases of invasive meningococcal disease among men who have sex with men caused by N. meningitidis serogroup C.
New and noteworthy in this update: the retrospective identification of novel coronavirus in biological samples from two fatal cases in Jordan (April 2012) and the results of a joint ECDC/WHO survey which confirms that EU/EEA Member States have an adequate capacity to detect novel coronavirus through their network of national reference laboratories: 18 of 30 in EU/EEA countries are capable of confirming positive screened samples by either ORF1b RT-PCR or other target RT-PCR assays with sequence analysis or whole-genome sequence analysis.
CDC updated risk assessment concludes that in the absence of evidence of sustained person-to-person transmission outside of household settings, the current facts still point towards a hypothesis of a zoonotic or environmental source with occasional transmission to exposed humans. WHO does not advise any travel or trade restrictions at this point for KSA or Qatar.
An outbreak of aseptic meningitis associated to a kindergarten in Suceava city in northern Romania has been reported. A total of 62 cases of enterovirus have been reported identified in the city and wider district, 53 cases of which have led to aseptic meningitis. ECDC has prepared a rapid risk assessment on the outbreak
This document is an update of the EFSA/ECDC joint rapid risk assessment of 29 June and aims to add new information to this and earlier initial rapid risk assessments (27 May and 14 June 2011).