ECDC recruiting scientific experts

The European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) is inviting applications for the position of: Senior Expert for Respiratory Diseases in the Surveillance Unit Expert in Surveillance Unit – Antimicrobial Resistance and Healthcare-associated Infections

Preparing the European Union for the next pandemic – half way there

In early 2005, the institutions and member states of the European Union (EU), together with the other European Economic Area (EEA) member states of Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway, started preparing in a concerted manner for the next influenza pandemic.

Training fellowships for intervention epidemiology in Europe

The European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) is recruiting for the 14th cohort of fellows in the European Programme for Intervention Epidemiology Training (EPIET), which will start in September 2008.

Identification of Klebsiella pneumoniae carbapenemase in Sweden

A Klebsiella pneumoniae expressing carbapenemase type 2 (KPC-2) enzyme has been identified in Sweden. The patient, who had a history of chronic obstructive lung disease, developed a respiratory tract infection while on holiday in Greece. After initial intensive care treatment in Greece, the patient was transferred to Sweden.

Ongoing outbreak of hepatitis A in Nis, Serbia: a preliminary report

Hepatitis A is still a great problem in developing countries, especially those in which vaccination is not obligatory. It is well known that hepatitis A is associated with risk factors such as poor sanitation and inadequate hygiene. However, some investigations (e.g. in Spain and Greece) showed that the seroprevalence of antibodies against hepatitis A virus (HAV) in recent decades has decreased, especially in the younger adults, most likely due to improvements in living standards and hygienic conditions.

Eurosurveillance – a look back at 2007

This year has been a very important milestone in the history of Eurosurveillance. The European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) took over the funding and production of the journal in March with the result that, for the first time since its launch in 1995, the whole editorial team began operating from a single location.

Zoonotic infections in Europe: trends and figures - a summary of the EFSA-ECDC annual report

The 2006 annual Community Summary Report from the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) and the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) was released this week with the latest trends and figures on the occurrence of zoonotic infections and agents, antimicrobial resistance and food-borne outbreaks in the then 25 European Union Member States and five non-EU countries (Bulgaria, Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway and Romania).

AURES – the first Austrian report on antimicrobial resistance – perspective of the human sector

The first epidemiological report on communicable diseases in Europe published by the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) identified antibiotic resistance and nosocomial infections as one of the major threats in public health in the future.

Local cluster of psittacosis after bird show in the Netherlands, November 2007

On 14 November 2007, a general practitioner in the Nijmegen region of the Netherlands called the Municipal Health Service (MHS). He reported three patients complaining of high fever, vomiting, diarrhoea, and headache, all of whom had visited a bird show in the rural town of Weurt (village of Beuningen).