Eurosurveillance - Volume 21, Issue 4, 28 January 2016

A cluster of three cases of food-borne botulism due to Clostridium baratii type F occurred in France in August 2015. All cases required respiratory assistance. Consumption of a Bolognese sauce at the same restaurant was the likely source of contamination. Clostridium baratii was isolated both from stool specimens from the three patients and ground meat used to prepare the sauce. This is the second episode reported in France caused by this rare pathogen.

A novel GII.17 norovirus emerged in Asia in the winter of 2014/15. A worldwide spread is conceivable and norovirus diagnostic assays need to be evaluated to investigate if they adequately detect this emerging genotype. Seven immunochromatographic kits commercially available in Europe were evaluated on ten stool samples where GII.17 virus had been quantified by real-time reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction. All the kits detected GII.17 with various sensitivities, partly depending on the virus titre.

Influenza B viruses make up an important part of the burden from seasonal influenza globally. The 2015 season in Australia saw an unusual predominance of influenza B with a distinctive switch during the season from B/Yamagata/16/88 lineage viruses to B/Victoria/2/87 lineage viruses. We also noted significant differences in the age groups infected by the different B lineages, with B/Victoria infecting a younger population than B/Yamagata, that could not be explained by potential prior exposure.

The present study aimed to determine the role of human parvovirus В19 (B19V) as an aetiological agent in measles and rubella negative fever/rash patients from Bulgaria between 2004 and 2013. A total of 1,266 sera from all over the country were tested for B19V IgM antibodies and all positives were further investigated by polymerase chain reaction (PCR). Overall, 280 sera (22%) were B19V IgM positive and 227 of these (81%) were also PCR positive. The highest number of IgM positives was found among five to nine year-old children (27%). Eight infected women gave birth to healthy children; one fetus was aborted with hydrops fetalis. Of the 55 genetic sequences obtained, 54 belonged to genotype 1a and one grouped as a genotype 2 outlier. Phylogenetic analysis of all available genotype 2 sequences covering the 994 nucleotide non-structural protein 1(NS1)/capsid viral protein 1 (VP1) unique region junction, showed that only one other sequence grouped with the outlier strain, forming a clearly distinct and well-supported cluster of genotype 2 (between-group genetic distance: 3.32%). In accordance with B19V nomenclature, this cluster may represent a new subgenotype 2b. The study showed that B19V infections may be falsely identified as rubella or measles in ca 22% of cases, emphasising the need for laboratory confirmation.

We report a cluster of atypical Guillain–Barré syndrome in 10 adults temporally related to a cluster of four children with acute flaccid paralysis, over a 3-month period in South Wales, United Kingdom. All adult cases were male, aged between 24 and 77 years. Seven had prominent facial diplegia at onset. Available electrophysiological studies showed axonal involvement in five adults. Seven reported various forms of respiratory disease before onset of neurological symptoms. The ages of children ranged from one to 13 years, three of the four were two years old or younger. Enterovirus testing is available for three children; two had evidence of enterovirus D68 infection in stool or respiratory samples. We describe the clinical features, epidemiology and state of current investigations for these unusual clusters of illness.

As a setting for potential tuberculosis (TB) transmission and contact tracing, aircraft pose specific challenges. Evidence-based guidelines are needed to support the related-risk assessment and contact-tracing efforts. In this study evidence of TB transmission on aircraft was identified to update the Risk Assessment Guidelines for TB Transmitted on Aircraft (RAGIDA-TB) of the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC). Electronic searches were undertaken from Medline (Pubmed), Embase and Cochrane Library until 19 July 2013. Eligible records were identified by a two-stage screening process and data on flight and index case characteristics as well as contact tracing strategies extracted. The systematic literature review retrieved 21 records. Ten of these records were available only after the previous version of the RAGIDA guidelines (2009) and World Health Organization guidelines on TB and air travel (2008) were published. Seven of the 21 records presented some evidence of possible in-flight transmission, but only one record provided substantial evidence of TB transmission on an aircraft. The data indicate that overall risk of TB transmission on aircraft is very low. The updated ECDC guidelines for TB transmission on aircraft have global implications due to inevitable need for international collaboration in contract tracing and risk assessment.