Weekly releases (1997–2007) - Volume 10, Issue 8, 24 February 2005

Between 31 January and 4 February 2005, over 21 000 people in the city of Zeist in the Netherlands were tested for latent tuberculosis infection or active tuberculosis after possible exposure via a supermarket employee.

A single case of infection with a highly drug-resistant strain of HIV that progressed rapidly has been diagnosed in a New York City resident who had not previously undergone antiviral drug treatment

Infections due to ß-lactam resistant E. coli strains that produce extended-spectrum ß-lactamases (ESBL) of the CTX-M family are emerging in European countries such as the United Kingdom and Spain

A recently published report describes the case of a 4 year old boy who presented with fever, headache, vomiting and severe diarrhoea, followed by seizures and coma (gastroenteritis and encephalitis) in Vietnam in February 2004

There is increasing recognition that antibiotic consumption provides a major selective pressure for the emergence and persistence of antibiotic-resistant strains of bacteria. In 2001, a European Union Council Recommendation stated that data should be gathered on antibiotic use and antimicrobial resistance in European countries

On 16 February 2005, the Deutsche Stiftung Organtransplantation (German Foundation for Organ Transplantation, http://www.dso.de/) announced possible rabies cases in three of six patients who received organs from a donor who died in late December 2004