Two out of the four drugs tested in a multi-drug randomised control trial have been found more effective in treating Ebola, the World Health Organization announced on Monday. The Data and Safety Monitoring Board, an independent body that has been reviewing interim safety and efficacy data, has therefore recommended that the study be stopped and that all future patients be randomized to receive either REGN-EB3 or mAb114, in what is being considered an extension phase of the study.
This issue of the ECDC Communicable Disease Threats Report (CDTR) is a weekly bulletin for epidemiologists and health professionals on active public health threats covers the period from 4-10 August 2019 and includes updates on measles, Ebola virus disease, monitoring environmental sustainability of Vibrio growth in the Baltic Sea, West Nile virus infection and the mass gathering of the Hajj in Saudi Arabia.
This is the sixth update of a rapid risk assessment originally produced on 9 August 2018. The update addresses the impact of active chains of Ebola virus disease (EVD) transmission reported outside the outbreak’s epicentre, specifically in Goma, a provincial capital in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC).
Targeted testing is an essential element of any strategy to eliminate viral hepatitis across the countries in the European Union and European Economic Area. Some preliminary monitoring results on the response to hepatitis B and C presented around World Hepatitis Day show that diagnosing chronic infections is still a challenge in the EU/EEA.
This is the fifth update of a rapid risk assessment originally produced on 9 August 2018. This rapid risk assessment addresses the potential public health impact of Ebola virus disease for EU/EEA countries and assesses the likelihood of international expansion.
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.
In 2017, the majority (58%) of the almost 27 000 newly reported hepatitis B cases in the European Union and European Economic Area were classified as chronic infections. This follows a consistent upward trend in reported chronic hepatitis B cases since 2008.