Influenza, SARS-CoV-2 and RSV activity in EU/EEA Member States continue to decrease or remain stable at low levels. Cases, including severe infections, can still occur and it therefore remains essential to continue testing patients presenting with severe acute respiratory symptoms in order to guide treatment and inform epidemiological assessments.
The decline in the reported number of new transmissions of hepatitis B virus (HBV) and hepatitis C virus (HCV) infections across European Union (EU) and European Economic Area (EEA) countries has continued.
In this report, we provide an overview of the data reported by countries in the EU and EEA in 2023 to describe progress towards the 2025 interim targets for hepatitis elimination as outlined in the WHO European Region Action Plan 2022–2030.
Recent ECDC data show that despite progress in prevention and control efforts, the hepatitis B and hepatitis C viruses (HBV and HCV) continue to pose significant public health challenges in the European Union and European Economic Area (EU/EEA).
This issue of the ECDC Communicable Disease Threats Report (CDTR) covers the period 7 - 13 April 2024 and includes updates on measles, avian influenza, COVID-19, Mpox, seasonal influenza, RSV, cholera and shigellosis.
This joint guidance by the ECDC and EMCDDA aims to strengthen the evidence base for developing national strategies for preventing and controlling infections and infectious diseases among people who inject drugs.
In 2022, 30 EU/EEA countries reported 4 149 confirmed cases of shigellosis. Of those cases with information available on travel history, 48% were associated with travel.
The food-borne infections listeriosis and shigatoxigenic Escherichia coli are increasing in the EU/EEA and were in 2022 at levels higher than before the COVID-19 pandemic.
For 2022, 29 European Union/European Economic Area (EU/EEA) countries reported 8 565 confirmed cases of Shiga toxin-producing Escherichia coli (STEC) infection.