Eurosurveillance - Volume 13, Issue 32, 07 August 2008

An outbreak of tularaemia occurred in Castilla y León in northwestern Spain between June and December 2007, as previously reported by Martín et al. [1]. The scope of the present article is to describe in more detail, and update the results of, the outbreak investigation.An increased incidence of cases diagnosed as 'fever of unknown origin' was detected in late June 2007 by the Castilla y León Epidemiological Surveillance Network based on a series of notifications from a rural area in the province of Palencia and from Leon city. Subsequent epidemiological investigation confirmed a tularaemia outbreak. .

Mass gathering events may pose an increased risk for outbreak of infectious diseases, and a potential for rapid international spread [1,2]. Even events not considered relevant from the public health point of view can have a big media impact. The European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) has on several occasions given support to the European Union Member States (EU MS) during sporting events such as the Olympic Games and football championships to ensure the rapid detection of possible public health risks [3-6].

This Friday, 8 August 2008 will see the official opening of the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games. In the following weeks (8-24 August) an estimated 10,500 athletes from 205 participating countries will compete in the Olympics, followed by the Paralympics (6-17 September). Sporting events will be held in Olympic venues hosted mainly in Beijing city, Tianjin, Hong Kong, Shanghai, Shenyang, Qinhuangdao and Qingdao (See Figure). An estimated 2.4 million spectators are anticipated to join in the celebration of the Olympics alone, with over 20,000 accredited media present [1] and 450,000 foreigners expected [2].

An outbreak of gastroenteritis involving 26 guests of a wedding dinner occurred in August 2007 in Réunion Island, a French Overseas Department. Salmonella was isolated in 61.5% of cases and the two isolates serotyped were of serovar Weltevreden. We believe this to be the first food-borne outbreak due to S. enterica serovar Weltevreden described in Réunion Island. The epidemiological and environmental investigations of this outbreak did not provide enough evidence to identify a single vehicle of infection. It is necessary to improve surveillance of salmonellosis by multidisciplinary cooperation between clinicians, epidemiologists, microbiologists and veterinarians on Réunion Island. .