Influenza

A recent sampling of pesticide residues identified in imported fruit and vegetables has shown that 1.66pct of the samples carried excessive content, below the average value of non-compliance in the European Union, which stands at 4.1pct, according to Romania's National Authority for Veterinary and Food Safety (ANSVSA).

Today, the Bulgarian Food Safety Agency (BFSA) has registered the first outbreak of avian influenza in Bulgaria for 2020. The National Reference Laboratory has confirmed the highly pathogenic Influenza H5N8 at a duck breeding farm in Rakovski near Plovdiv. At the moment of the outbreak registration, 5,830 mulards of four age groups are being raised on the farm, said the BFSA press office.

Pro Romania deputy Mihaela Hunca told a press conference on Friday that medical offices need to be set up in all educational units with legal personality in the country in order to prevent the spread of diseases among students.

The toll from the seasonal flu has risen to 53 in Greece following the deaths of 15 people in the past week, the National Organization for Public Health (EODY) said in its weekly bulletin Thursday.

Winter break will be extended by seven days, and it will last until February 24, throughout Serbia.
A recommendation from the Ministry of Health on extending vacation was given to reduce the spread of the flu virus, as a flu epidemic was reported in Belgrade.

It is stated that in Vojvodina a high threshold of influenza virus intensity, as well as an increasing trend of incidence of influenza-like diseases have been registered, and for the first time during this year the intensity of influenza virus above the epidemic threshold was registered in the territory of five districts in Vojvodina.

China's coronavirus outbreak poses a "very grave threat for the rest of the world," the head of the World Health Organization (WHO) said on Tuesday in an appeal for sharing virus samples and speeding up research into drugs and vaccines.

A Greek scientist who provided a genetic analysis of the novel coronavirus that is responsible for the recent epidemic that broke out in Wuhan, China, says that a vaccination against the virus is within reach and should be ready "relatively quickly."

Amid a spike in serious flu cases, Greece's National Health Organization (EODY) has underlined the importance of people getting the flu vaccine.

The warning comes despite the revelation that, of the serious flu cases recorded to date, one in three had been vaccinated. The death toll from the flu virus since October rose to 38 last week, according to EODY.

The number of flu deaths in Greece since last October has risen to 38, according to the National Health Organization (EODY), which onThursday reported a rise in visits to doctors by people with flu symptoms compared to last week.