Eurosurveillance - Volume 27, Issue 29, 21 July 2022

Since May 2022, an international monkeypox (MPX) outbreak has been ongoing in more than 50 countries. While most cases are men who have sex with men, transmission is not restricted to this population. In this report, we describe the case of a male child younger than 10 years with MPX in the Netherlands. Despite thorough source tracing, a likely source of infection has not been identified. No secondary cases were identified in close contacts.

In spring 2022, Europe faced an unprecedented heatwave, increasing the risk of West Nile virus (WNV) outbreaks. As early as 7 June 2022, WNV was detected in Culex mosquitoes in northern Italy, and – in the following days – in two blood donors, a patient with encephalitis, wild birds and additional mosquito pools. Genome sequencing demonstrated co-circulation of WNV lineage 2 and a newly introduced WNV lineage 1, which was discovered in the region in 2021.

Technical advances in diagnostic techniques have permitted the possibility of multi-disease-based approaches for diagnosis and treatment monitoring of several infectious diseases, including tuberculosis (TB), human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), viral hepatitis and sexually transmitted infections (STI). However, in many countries, diagnosis and monitoring, as well as disease response programs, still operate as vertical systems, potentially causing delay in diagnosis and burden to patients and preventing the optimal use of available resources. With countries facing both human and financial resource constraints, during the COVID-19 pandemic even more than before, it is important that available resources are used as efficiently as possible, potential synergies are leveraged to maximise benefit for patients, continued provision of essential health services is ensured. For the infectious diseases, TB, HIV, hepatitis C (HCV) and STI, sharing devices and integrated services starting with rapid, quality-assured, and complete diagnostic services is beneficial for the continued development of adequate, efficient and effective treatment strategies. Here we explore the current and future potential (as well as some concerns), importance, implications and necessary implementation steps for the use of platforms for multi-disease testing for TB, HIV, HCV, STI and potentially other infectious diseases, including emerging pathogens, using the example of the COVID-19 pandemic.