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.
In 2014, 2 760 confirmed cases of invasive meningococcal disease were reported to TESSy. The notification rate was 0.5 cases per 100 000 population, which is lower than in previous years.
This issue of the Communicable Disease Threat Report (CDTR) covers the period 31 July - 6 August 2016 and includes updates on Zika virus, yellow fever in Angola, chikungunya, dengue, West Nile virus and polio.
Illnesses caused by infectious diseases are common in children in schools or other childcare settings. Currently there is no common EU approach to the control of communicable diseases in schools or other childcare settings, and existing information is uncertain.
In July 2014, a panel of two viable isolates of N. meningitidis of the major disease-causing serogroups with three simulated cerebrospinal fluid (non-culture) samples for molecular studies, was sent by UK NEQAS to 30 reference laboratories in the IBD-labnet surveillance network for quality assessment testing. This report summarises the diagnostic results submitted by the participating laboratories.
This rapid risk assessment considers the risk to the EU of an outbreak of invasive meningococcal disease in the UK and Sweden associated with the 23rd World Scout Jamboree in Japan.
This issue of the ECDC Communicable Disease Threats Report (CDTR) covers the period 16-22 August 2015 , and includes updates on chikungunya, West Nile virus, meningococcal disease, polio, Ebola virus and MERS.
This issue of the ECDC Communicable Disease Threats Report (CDTR) covers the period 9-15 August 2015, and includes updates on meningococcal disease, West Nile virus, polio, Ebola virus, MERS and chikungunya.