Greece's Center for Disease Prevention and Control

Cook on cargo ship died of heart disease, coroner finds

A preliminary coroner's report on Monday said that the death of the cook on a quarantined cargo ship was due to heart problems and not a contagious disease.

The Antigua-flagged Blue Note alerted Greek authorities that its 40-year-Russian cook had died of unknown causes while en route from Italy to Greece, raising concerns that he may have been infected with a contagious disease.

Greece among EU countries with highest measles rates

European officials said on Tuesday that the spike in the number of measles cases in Europe was due to epidemics in Romania, Italy, Germany and Greece.

According to the European Center for Disease Prevention and Control, more than 14,400 cases were reported by 30 countries last year - compared with about 4,600 cases the year before.