Weekly releases (1997–2007) - Volume 6, Issue 19, 09 May 2002

A conference on the present and future of epidemiological surveillance in Europe and its actions and needs was held in Madrid on 25-26 April, coinciding with the 2002 Spanish presidency of the European Union (EU)

During the weekend of 5-7 April, a Chinese style buffet was served to passengers booked on a cruise on the ferry M/S Polonia, which sails a regular route between Sweden and Poland. After the cruise, several of the passengers reported having fallen ill. Around 800 Swedish passengers travelled on the cruise, and to date there have been reports of 352 laboratory verified cases of salmonellosis in people who were on the ferry on 5-7 April.

Holiday destinations where Plasmodium falciparum infections in tourists are hitherto unknown are by no means always safe, as a recent report in Germany’s surveillance bulletin shows (1). Two almost simultaneous but unrelated cases of falciparum malaria have been reported to Germany’s Robert Koch-Institut. Both patients had visited Thailand, where tourist destinations are regarded as non-malarial, and no recommendations for chemoprophylaxis have so far been issued for tourists.

The United States (US) Working Group on Civilian Biodefence has recently published an updated consensus statement for the management of deliberate releases of anthrax (1). The recommendations are consistent with European guidelines, and offer some additional information. Evidence emerging from the deliberate releases of anthrax in the US postal system in October 2001 has been included, along with older data from the accidental release at Sverdlovsk in 1979, and from human and animal trials.