Rabies is a deadly disease and endemic in over 100 countries. It causes around 59,000 human deaths annually, the vast majority in Asia and Africa. There are safe and effective human vaccines for pre- and post-exposure prophylaxis. With a prompt and proper post-exposure prophylaxis (PEP), exposed people have a survival rate close to 100%.
This issue of the ECDC Communicable Disease Threats Report (CDTR) covers the period 29 September-5 October 2019 and includes updates on Ebola virus disease, extensively drug-resistant Klebsiella pneumoniae, mass gathering monitoring (Japan, Rugby World Cup 2019), Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus, Plasmodium cynomolgi infection, poliomyelitis, West Nile virus, and yellow fever.
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 September 2017, the Ministry of Health in Brazil declared the end of the 2016–2017 yellow fever outbreak in the country. The upsurge of human cases since December 2017 and the continuous non-human primate epizootics since September 2017 indicate a continued or resumed increase in yellow fever virus circulation in Brazil. Since January 2018, most of the yellow fever cases have been reported from São Paulo, Rio de Janeiro and Minas Gerais states.
This issue of the ECDC Communicable Disease Threats Report (CDTR) covers the period 25 February-3 March 2018 and includes updates on hepatitis A, influenza A(H7N9), seasonal influenza, MERS-CoV, mass gathering monitoring, poliomyelitis, yellow fever, and deaths linked to cold weather.