According to WHO, between 24 February and 9 March 2025 (week 09 and 10), 19/25 countries shared their meningitis epidemiological data. For previous epidemics and alerts, see news at www.healthytravel.ch.

Epidemics:

• Nigeria: Kebbi State, Sokoto State
  
• D.R. Congo: Tshiopo province,
  

Alert:

• Burkina Faso: Sud-Ouest region, Haute-Bassins region
  
• Central Africa Republic: Region 3.
  
• D.R. Congo: Base-Uele province, Ituri province, Haute - Lomami province, Maindombe province,
  
• Ghana: Upper West region*
  
• Mali: Bamako region Gao region

Pathogens identified in 2025 (for updates, see LINK).

Between August 2024 and January 2025, four cases of Human African trypanosomiasis (HAT), were reported in travelers from nonendemic countries who were bitten by tsetse flies in the Zambezi Valley (see also EpiNews 9.1.2025).

African trypanosomiasis, also called sleeping sickness, is endemic in many Subsaharan countries. It is transmitted by Tsetse flies. These flies are mainly attracted by bright, dark (especially blue) colours. They inhabit rural areas, including forests and savannah areas, and areas of thick vegetation along rivers and waterholes, depending on the fly species. Tsetse flies bite during the day, <1% are infected. Risk for infection in travelers increases with the number of fly bites, which does not always correlate with duration of travel. People most likely to be exposed to African trypanosomiasis infection are hunters and villagers with infected cattle herds. Tourists and other people working in or visiting game parks are at risk for contracting African trypanosomiasis if they spend long periods in rural areas where the disease is present. Travelers to urban areas are at minimal risk, although transmission has been observed in some urban settings in the past.

Regions highlighted within Zambia and Zimbabwe depicting the approximate risk area for the disease.

According to the French National Health Authority, up to 9 March 2025, 8’749 cases (around 8’600 in 2025) of autochthonous chikungunya virus disease have been reported in La Réunion. In week 10, 2’888 new confirmed cases were reported, representing a 29% increase compared with the previous week. Cases have now been reported in all municipalities. The municipalities reporting the most cases since the start of the epidemic are those in the south, particularly Le Tampon.

On 21 March 2025, two deaths were reported in older adults, one of whom presented with comorbidities.

Karnataka has reported its first Kyasanur Forest Disease (KFD) fatality of 2025, with 95 confirmed cases recorded in the state so far.

In October 2024, an infection of European bat lyssa virus type 1 (EBLV-1) was confirmed in a domestic cat in the Netherlands. Several weeks before, the owners had found a dead bat considered to be caught by the cat. Nine persons exposed to the cat received post-exposure prophylaxis and four domestic animals from the same household were quarantined. This report stresses the need for vigilance for rabies in domestic animals in countries where lyssavirus infections in bats are endemic.

Die Daten zu Masernfällen in der Europäischen Union und im Europäischen Wirtschaftsraum (EU/EWR) in den letzten zwölf Monaten (1. Februar 2024 bis 31. Januar 2025 32‘265 Masernfälle) zeigen einen deutlichen Anstieg der Meldungen im Vergleich zu 2023. Rumänien (27‘568), Italien (1‘097), Deutschland (637), Belgien (551) und Österreich (542) wiesen die höchsten Fallzahlen auf.

Aufgrund der vermehrten Viruszirkulation, werden die Fallzahlen sehr wahrscheinlich im Frühjahr 2025 zunehmen. Die anhaltende Übertragung deutet auf Lücken in der Durchimpfung gegen diese vermeidbare Krankheit hin – sowohl bei Kindern als auch bei Jugendlichen und Erwachsenen.

Am 3. März 2025 gaben die Gesundheitsbehörden in Florida eine Tollwutwarnung für den Volusia County heraus, nachdem im Februar 2025 eine ungeimpfte Katze am Ormond Beach mit Tollwut diagnostiziert wurde.

Seit Januar 2025 hat das brasilianische Gesundheitsministerium rund 30.000 Chikungunya-Fälle gemeldet, darunter über 17’500 labordiagnostizierte Fälle und 23 Todesfälle, dies entspricht einer Verdreifachung der durchschnittlichen Inzidenz. Die meisten Fälle wurden in Mato Grosso verzeichnet, gefolgt von Mato Grosso do Sul, Paraná, Rondônia und São Paulo.

In den ersten zwei Monaten des Jahres 2025 hat Argentinien bereits  288 Zika-Fälle gemeldet. 2024 wurden im Land 564 Fälle für das gesamte Jahr registriert.