ECDC is monitoring reports from three countries (France, the United Kingdom and the United States) of cases of invasive meningococcal disease (IMD) associated with travel to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA).
This issue of the ECDC Communicable Disease Threats Report (CDTR) the period 21-27 January 2024 and includes updates on SARS-CoV-2, influenza, cholera, chikungunya, dengue and zika.
After the EPIS FWD notification of a cluster of hepatitis A cases infected with two distinct strains in several EU/EEA countries, this risk assessment presents the early findings of this multi-country hepatitis A outbreak and sets out initial options for response.
ECDC promotes the performance of external quality assessment (EQA) schemes, in which laboratories are sent simulated clinical specimens or bacterial isolates for testing by routine or reference laboratory methods. EQA schemes, or laboratory proficiency testing, provide information about the accuracy of different characterisation and typing methods as well as antimicrobial susceptibility testing (AST) and the sensitivity of the methods in place to detect a certain pathogen or novel resistance patterns.