Overview

• The outbreak has tallied 536 confirmed infections and at least three fatalities across Western Europe since 2022.
• Sequencing of 363 isolates shows 98% of cases occurred in males with a median age of 18, 96% of whom recently migrated from Afghanistan or Syria.
• Cutaneous infections comprised 77% of cases while 15% presented severe respiratory symptoms, highlighting the pathogen’s diverse clinical risks.
• Challenges in accessing and screening migrant and homeless populations have obscured the precise locations and full scale of transmission events.
• Public health agencies are urging sustained cross-border surveillance, routine screening and maintained vaccination to close immunity gaps among vulnerable communities.