Weekly releases (1997–2007) - Volume 12, Issue 2, 11 January 2007

An increase in numbers of malaria cases has recently been reported in travellers returning from India, in particular from the state of Goa. These cases have been reported to the European Network on Imported Infectious Disease Surveillance (TropNetEurop).

Four cases of legionnaires’ disease have recently been reported in one Norwegian, one Finn and two people from Sweden. These patients were all among guests staying at a hotel in Patong Beach, Phuket, Thailand since 20 November 2006.

We report the first isolation of a variant strain of Clostridium difficile from a patient with pseudomembranous colitis in Japan. The strain was chararacterised as North American pulsed field gel electrophoresis type 1 (NAP1), PCR ribotype 027, toxinotype III.

Since the early 1980s, there has been an increase in the number of outbreaks investigated using analytical epidemiology since it became widely accepted that microbiological investigation alone is often insufficient. This increase has also been encouraged by a growing availability of statistical tools within public health and the establishment of international and national training programmes and courses.

The emergence and spread of antimicrobial resistance has become a major public health threat in Europe. The number of infections caused by resistant pathogens continues to increase in the European Union (EU) and worldwide. Treating illness, which includes infectious disease, already places a resource burden on society.