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Two diphtheria sub-clusters with autochthonous cases in Germany and Poland within a Corynebacterium diphtheriae ST-574 outbreak, 2022 to July 2025
- Imme Friederike Roewer de Porto1,2,3,* , Alexandra Dangel4,* , Lena Schneider1,2,3,* , Aleksandra A. Zasada5 , Jonas Haller6 , Inas Abdelgawad7,8 , Claudia Siffczyk1 , Iwona Paradowska-Stankiewicz9 , Ole Wichmann1 , Franziska Badenschier1 , Anja Berger10,11,12,* , Cornelius Rau1,* , Andreas Sing10,11,12,*
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View Affiliations Hide AffiliationsAffiliations: 1 Department for Infectious Disease Epidemiology, Robert Koch Institute, Berlin, Germany 2 Postgraduate Training for Applied Epidemiology, Department for Infectious Disease Epidemiology, Robert Koch Institute, Berlin, Germany 3 ECDC Fellowship Programme, Field Epidemiology path (EPIET), European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC), Stockholm, Sweden 4 NGS-Core Unit, Bavarian Health and Food Safety Authority, Oberschleißheim, Germany 5 Department of Sera and Vaccines Evaluation, National Institute of Public Health NIH – National Research Institute, Warsaw, Poland 6 Gesundheitsamt Frankfurt am Main, Frankfurt am Main, Germany 7 Local Public Health Authority Havelland, Brandenburg, Germany 8 Forensic Medicine and Clinical Toxicology Department, Faculty of Medicine, Cairo University, Al Kasr Al Aini, Cairo, Cairo Governorate, Egypt 9 Department of Infectious Diseases Epidemiology and Surveillance, National Institute of Public Health NIH – National Research Institute, Warsaw, Poland 10 National Consiliary Laboratory for Diphtheria, Bavarian Health and Food Safety Authority, Oberschleißheim, Germany 11 EU Public Health Reference Laboratory for Diphtheria and Pertussis (EURL-PH-EUDIPE), Oberschleißheim, Germany 12 WHO Collaborating Centre for Diphtheria, Oberschleißheim, Germany * These authors contributed equally to this work and share first/last authorship.Imme Roewer de PortoRoewer-de-PortoI rki.de
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Citation style for this article: Roewer de Porto Imme Friederike, Dangel Alexandra, Schneider Lena, Zasada Aleksandra A., Haller Jonas, Abdelgawad Inas, Siffczyk Claudia, Paradowska-Stankiewicz Iwona, Wichmann Ole, Badenschier Franziska, Berger Anja, Rau Cornelius, Sing Andreas. Two diphtheria sub-clusters with autochthonous cases in Germany and Poland within a Corynebacterium diphtheriae ST-574 outbreak, 2022 to July 2025. Euro Surveill. 2025;30(33):pii=2500539. https://doi.org/10.2807/1560-7917.ES.2025.30.33.2500539 Received: 22 Jul 2025; Accepted: 21 Aug 2025
Abstract
Within a Corynebacterium diphtheriae ST-574 outbreak comprising mostly migration-associated cases since 2022, Germany detected two sub-clusters in 2025. Among sub-cluster cases with travel information (24/26), 22 were acquired autochthonously. One of two imported cases came from a Polish voivodeship having an additional case. Sub-cluster 1 included 16 cutaneous cases, sub-cluster 2 included six cutaneous and five respiratory cases. One unvaccinated child and two older adults died. Of 27 cases, 12 experienced homelessness. Strengthened immunisation, improved wound care and international surveillance are needed.

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