Whilst Cyprus continues to grapple with the aftermath of February’s foot-and-mouth disease outbreak, the European Commission has mobilised its strategic reserve of emergency supplies,rescEU, to support the ongoing response. The mobilisation follows a request for assistance from the Cypriot authorities via theEU Civil Protection Mechanism. It includes disinfectants, personal protective equipment, disposable coveralls, face masks, […]
Artificial intelligence to prevent future pandemics
AI advances could tackle future disease outbreaks, says international study. The COVID-19 crisis may already be a few years behind us. But questions inevitably arise if we’re adequately prepared for a future pandemic. AI is radically changing the way we live and work. It’s also poised to change research in infectious diseases. Can AI also […]
List of top-3 health threats to prepare against
The Commission’s Health Emergency Preparedness and Response Authority (HERA) presents a priority list of top-3 health threats that require coordination of measures at EU level in the context of medical countermeasures. The HERA Board agreed on a list which includes three threat categories of life-threatening or otherwise seriously harmful hazards to health which have the potential of […]
Avian influenza: 25 EU/EEA countries affected
Around 1,000 detections of highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) were reported in 25 EU/EEA countries and the UK between 8 December 2020 and 23 February 2021, according to the latest overview of HPAI in Europe. The majority of the 1,022 detections – 592 – were reported in domestic poultry, with wild and captive birds making up […]
Outbreak of Ebola virus disease in Africa
As of 14 February 2021, four cases of Ebola virus disease (EVD), including two deaths, have been reported in the North Kivu province in the eastern part of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) as well as seven cases in Guinea, including three deaths. On 7 February 2021, the Minister of Health of the […]
H2020. Advancing knowledge for the clinical and public health response to the 2019-nCoV epidemic
On 31 December 2019, the local authorities of Wuhan, Hubei province, China, reported a cluster of pneumonia cases of unknown origin. On 9 January 2020, the China Centre for Disease Control reported a novel Coronavirus (2019-nCoV) to be the causative agent. Scope Proposals submitted under this expression of interest are expected to advance the knowledge […]