ECDC Technical Report
In line with ECDC’s recommendations provided in the ’Risk Assessment of HTLV-1/2 transmission by tissue/cell transplantation’ dated 14 March 2012, this Directive replaces the term ‘incidence’ with ‘prevalence’ in the description of endemic areas of HTLV-1/2 i...nfection. According to the new requirements ‘HTLV-1 antibody testing must be performed for donors living in, or originating from high-prevalence areas or with sexual partners originating from those areas or where the donor’s parents originate from those areas’ and this applies to both donors of non-reproductive tissues and cells and reproductive cells.
ECDC contracted experts from the Institut Pasteur in Paris to systematically review the published evidence on the distribution of HTLV-1 infection prevalence throughout the world and to identify high-prevalence countries and areas.
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Leishmaniasis is still considered to be a global health problem, which spreads in most countries in the world. Leishmania is an intracellular obligate protistan parasite that causes different clinical symptoms in infected humans and other animals. There are clinically different types of the disease ...including: visceral, cutaneous or muco-cutaneous leishmaniasis. Approximately, two million new infections occurring annually; 0.7 to 1.2 million cases are recorded with cutaneous leishmaniasis and 200,000–400,000 cases return for visceral leishmaniasis. However, Cutaneous leishmaniasis considers one of uncontrolled wobbling endemic diseases, especially in Iraq, which occurs at the skin to cause a dermal lesion. Usually, the lesion is spontaneously healed to leave a colorless depressed scar and permanent immunity.
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The boundaries and names shown and the designations used on this map do not imply
the expression of any opinion whatsoever on the part of the World Health Organization
concerning the legal status of any country, territory, city or area or of its authorites, or
concerning the delimitation of its f...rontiers or boundaries. Dotted lines on maps
represent approximate border lines for which there may not yet be full agreement.
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Existing data on chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) prevalence are irregularly distributed around the world, and in many geographic regions data are scarce or even nonexistent. This fact hinders the implementation of adequate preventive and therapeutic interventions to reduce the high burd...en and costs of COPD. In the current study, we have used the Geographic Information System (GIS) inverse distance weighted (IDW) interpolation technique with the objective of visualising spatial data of COPD prevalence in the world and obtaining a visual impression of the magnitude of this global health problem. GIS has been recognised as an effective tool to display the geographical distribution of data, even when they are few and widely separated, as is the case with the prevalence of COPD.
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interactive map, please follow the link below to use the map functions
updated 31 March 2016
http://ais.paho.org/phip/viz/ed_zika_countrymap.asp
In order to target resources and drugs to reach trachoma elimination targets by the year 2020, data on the burden of disease are required. Using prevalence data in African countries derived from the Global Atlas of Trachoma (GAT), the distribution of trachoma continues to be focused in East and West... Sub-Saharan Africa, North Africa and a few endemic countries in Central Sub-Saharan Africa. Currently, 129.4 million people are estimated to live in areas that are confirmed to be trachoma endemic and 98 million are known to require access to the SAFE strategy. The maps and information presented in this work highlight the GAT as important open-access planning and advocacy tool for efforts to finalize trachoma mapping and assist national programmes in planning interventions.
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Buruli ulcer (BU), a neglected tropical disease (NTD), is an infection of the skin and subcutaneous tissue caused by Mycobacterium ulcerans. The disease has been documented in many South American, Asian, and Western Pacific countries and is widespread throughout much of Africa, especially in West... and Central Africa.
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Chagas disease caused by Trypanosoma cruzi is a public health issue in Latin America. This highly diverse parasite is divided into at least seven discrete typing units (DTUs) TcI-TcVI and Tcbat. Some DTUs have been associated with geographical distribution in epidemiological scenarios and clinical m...anifestations, but these aspects remain poorly understood. Many studies have focused on studying the parasite and its vectors/hosts, using a wide variety of genetic markers and methods. Here, we performed a systematic review of the literature for the last 20 years to present an update of DTUs distribution in the Americas, collecting ecoepidemiological information. We found that the DTUs are widespread across the continent and that there is a whole gamma of genetic markers used for the identification and genotyping of the parasite. The data obtained in this descriptor could improve the molecular epidemiology studies of Chagas disease in endemic regions.
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Leishmaniasis is a vector-borne disease with a broad global distribution and an increasing number of recorded cases worldwide. However, it is still one of the world's most neglected diseases. Over the last decades, the disease has been found to expand geographically with a global increase of cases o...f visceral and cutaneous leishmaniasis increasing the public health problems associated with the disease epidemics. The reported range expansion of the diseases has been associated with range expansions of vector populations in response to climate change. Leishmaniasis is caused by protozoan parasites of the genus Leishmania. The transmission can either be zoonotic and/or anthroponotic through the bite of an infected female phlebotomine sandfly. In Eurasia and Africa, all vector-competent sandfly species belong to the genus Phlebotomus. Cutaneous leishmaniasis (CL) is the most common form of leishmaniasis. In the ‘old world’, it is caused by five currently recognized Leishmania species: L. major, L. tropica and L. aethiopica (being main causative parasites) as well as L. infantum and L. donovani. Visceral leishmaniasis (VL), another common and more severe form of leishmaniasis, is only associated with the Leishmania species L. infantum and L. donovani. The specific Leishmania species cause different clinical symptoms in humans.
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Lymphatic filariasis is a neglected tropical disease that can cause permanent disability through disruption of the lymphatic system. This disease is caused by parasitic filarial worms that are transmitted by mosquitos. Mass drug administration (MDA) of antihelmintics is recommended by WHO to elimina...te lymphatic filariasis as a public health problem. This study aims to produce the first geospatial estimates of the global prevalence of lymphatic filariasis infection over time, to quantify progress towards elimination, and to identify geographical variation in distribution of infection.
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This report describes the geographical and temporal distribution of multidrug-resistant (MDR) tuberculosis (TB) using molecular typing data reported by European Union (EU)/European Economic Area (EEA) Member States for 2015 and the preceding years.
This study aimed to analyze the geographical distribution of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) and to identify high-risk areas in space and time for the occurrence of cases and deaths in the indigenous population of Brazil. This is an ecological study carried out between 24 March and 26 October 20...20 whose units of analysis were the Special Indigenous Sanitary Districts. The Getis-Ord General G and Getis-Ord Gi* techniques were used to verify the spatial association of the phenomena and a retrospective space–time scan was performed. There were 32 041 confirmed cases of COVID-19 and 471 deaths. The non-randomness of cases (z score = 5.40; P < 0.001) and deaths (z score = 3.83; P < 0.001) were confirmed. Hotspots were identified for cases and deaths in the north and midwest regions of Brazil. Sixteen high-risk space–time clusters were identified for the occurrence of cases with a higher RR = 21.23 (P < 0.001) and four risk clusters for deaths with a higher RR = 80.33 (P < 0.001). These clusters were identified from 22 May and were active until 10 October 2020. The results indicate critical areas in the indigenous territories of Brazil and contribute to better directing the actions of control of COVID-19 in this population.
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Bulletin of the World Health Organization 2016. doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.2471/BLT.16.171082
Objective: To describe the temporal and geographical distribution of Zika virus infection, and associated neurological disorders, from 1947 to February 2016.
This Manual covers all important aspects of echinococcosis, including parasite biology and life-cycles, geographic distribution and prevalence, epidemiology, clinical presentation in humans and animals, diagnosis and treatment, as well as control and prevention using newly developed tools and method...s. It also provides descriptions of important techniques and a large number of bibliographical references.
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Background: The last decade has seen a dramatic increase in international and domestic funding for malaria control, coupled with important declines in malaria incidence and mortality in some regions of the world. As the ongoing climate of financial uncertainty places strains on investment in global ...health, there is an increasing need to audit the origin, recipients and geographical distribution of funding for malaria control relative to populations at risk of the disease. Methods: A comprehensive review of malaria control funding from international donors, bilateral sources and national governments was undertaken to reconstruct total funding by country for each year 2006 to 2010. Regions at risk from Plasmodium falciparum and/or Plasmodium vivax transmission were identified using global risk maps for 2010 and funding was assessed relative to populations at risk. Those nations with unequal funding relative to a regional average were identified and potential explanations highlighted, such as differences in national policies, government inaction or donor neglect.
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The Operational guide: use of referral laboratories for the analysis of foodborne hazards in the Pacific aims to strengthen the food analysis capacity of Pacific Island countries and areas by identifying national and reference laboratories capable of testing for priority foodborne hazards. The Pacif...ic Island countries and areas are often vulnerable to food safety incidents and emergencies due to their geographical distribution and dependence on food imports. The guide outlines key considerations for selecting referral laboratories and submitting samples to them, enabling continuous improvement of food safety systems and providing safe food for all. The target audiences are health and food safety authorities.
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