This issue of the ECDC Communicable Disease Threats Report (CDTR) covers the period 17-23 December 2023 and includes updates on cholera, SARS-CoV-2 variant classification, avian influenza in fur farms, hepatitis A, pertussis, a cluster of extensively drug-resistant Shigella Sonnei among men who have sex with men, and an overview of respiratory virus epidemiology in the EU/EE.
Meningococcal disease is caused by Neisseria meningitidis, a bacterium with human carriers as the only reservoir. It is carried in the nose, where it can remain for long periods without producing symptoms.
A joint study of the National Public Health Organization in Greece (NPHO) and the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) conducted in 15 Greek hospitals in 2022 sheds light on the rapid spread of carbapenemase-producing, highly drug-resistant Klebsiella pneumoniae sequence type (ST) 39, following its initial documentation in a European-wide genomic survey in 2019.
The main aim of the genomic study described in this surveillance report was to determine the distribution of the highly drug-resistant clade of Klebsiella pneumoniae (sequence type (ST) 39 in Greek hospitals in 2022.
This issue of the ECDC Communicable Disease Threats Report (CDTR) covers the period 8-14 October 2023 and includes updates on hepatitis A, influenza A(H5N1), COVID-19, the Rugby World Cup 2023, West Nile virus, measles and diphtheria.
Outsourced microbiological support to hospital-based surveillance of CDI aims to increase the capacity of laboratories in EU/EEA Member States to perform diagnostic practices with high diagnostic accuracy and acquire comparable typing data from C. difficile isolates.