The Cambodian Ministry of Health and the World Health Organization (WHO) are currently investigating a number of cases an undiagnosed illness that has resulted in the deaths of several children in Cambodia in the past 2 months. According to the WHO, the latest laboratory results indicate that “a significant proportion of the samples tested positive for Enterovirus 71 (EV-71), which causes hand foot and mouth disease”.
On 3 July the Cuban Ministry of Health confirmed an outbreak of cholera in the south-western city of Manzanillo. It is the first time in almost 150 years that an outbreak of cholera is reported in the island.
With more than 32 000 cases, gonorrhoea was the second most commonly reported sexually transmitted infection (STI) in Europe in 2010. As data from the ECDC report Gonococcal antimicrobial susceptibility surveillance in Europe 2010 illustrates, gonococci have become more resistant to common agents for treatment and show reduced susceptibility to newer antibiotics. “This indicates the risk that gonorrhoea may become an untreatable disease in the near future”, stresses ECDC Director Marc Sprenger.
As of May 2012, Vietnam continues to see sustained high incidence of hand, foot and mouth disease (HFMD) since the beginning of the year. China, Hong Kong (China), Macao (China) and Singapore have been reporting an increase in number of cases.
Following an invitation from Greek authorities, a team of experts from the ECDC Programme for HIV/AIDS, Sexually Transmitted and Blood-borne infections, the European Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug Addiction (EMCDDA) and the WHO Regional Office for Europe will visit Greece on 28 and 29 May 2012. The European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights (FRA) will join the mission as observers.
In an expert meeting in Stockholm, identified synergies and gaps in the availability of sexual health data, programmes, initiatives and policies across Europe and possibilities for future work will be discussed.
This study, strong of an almost complete follow-up of all children born in Denmark from 2003 to 2008, provides evidence that the DTaP-IPV-HiB vaccine is not associated to an overall increased risk of febrile seizures and epilepsy.
The European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) and the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) have published the second joint EU report on antimicrobial resistance in zoonotic bacteria affecting humans, animals and food.
The European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) and the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) have published their annual report on zoonoses and food-borne outbreaks in the European Union for 2010.
The coordination of European FWD outbreaks can be difficult to manage. In order to help Member State countries with the task, ECDC is launching an online toolkit which provides investigators with a series of tools for the investigation of an outbreak that involves at least two EU Member States.