First cases of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) in the WHO European Region, 24 January to 21 February 2020

doi:10.2807/1560-7917.ES.2020.25.9.2000178

. 2020 Mar;25(9):2000178.

doi: 10.2807/1560-7917.ES.2020.25.9.2000178.

First cases of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) in the WHO European Region, 24 January to 21 February 2020

Gianfranco Spiteri¹, James Fielding², Michaela Diercke³, Christine Campese⁴, Vincent Enouf⁵, Alexandre Gaymard⁶, Antonino Bella⁷, Paola Sognamiglio⁸, Maria José Sierra Moros⁹, Antonio Nicolau Riutort¹⁰, Yulia V Demina¹¹, Romain Mahieu¹², Markku Broas¹³, Malin Bengnér¹⁴, Silke Buda³, Julia Schilling³, Laurent Filleul¹⁵, Agnès Lepoutre¹⁶, Christine Saura¹⁷, Alexandra Mailles⁴, Daniel Levy-Bruhl⁴, Bruno Coignard⁴, Sibylle Bernard-Stoecklin⁴, Sylvie Behillil⁵, Sylvie van der Werf⁵, Martine Valette⁶, Bruno Lina⁶, Flavia Riccardo⁷, Emanuele Nicastri⁸, Inmaculada Casas¹⁸, Amparo Larrauri¹⁹, Magdalena Salom Castell²⁰, Francisco Pozo¹⁸, Rinat A Maksyutov²¹, Charlotte Martin²², Marc Van Ranst²³, Nathalie Bossuyt²⁴, Lotta Siira²⁵, Jussi Sane²⁶, Karin Tegmark-Wisell²⁷, Maria Palmérus²⁸, Eeva K Broberg¹, Julien Beauté¹, Pernille Jorgensen², Nick Bundle¹, Dmitriy Pereyaslov², Cornelia Adlhoch¹, Jukka Pukkila², Richard Pebody², Sonja Olsen^{2

29}, Bruno Christian Ciancio^{1

29}

Affiliations

¹ European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control, Stockholm, Sweden.
² World Health Organisation Regional Office for Europe, Copenhagen, Denmark.
³ Robert Koch Institute, Berlin, Germany.
⁴ Santé Publique France - Direction des maladies infectieuses, Saint-Maurice, France.
⁵ Centre national de référence Virus des infections respiratoires, dont la grippe, Institut Pasteur, Paris, France.
⁶ Centre national de référence Virus des infections respiratoires, dont la grippe, Hospices civils de Lyon, Lyon, France.
⁷ Istituto Superiore di Sanita, Rome, Italy.
⁸ Istituto Nazionale Malattie Infettive Lazzaro Spallanzani, Rome, Italy.
⁹ Coordination Centre for Health Alerts and Emergencies. Spanish Ministry of Health, Madrid, Spain.
¹⁰ Servicio de Epidemiología, Dirección General de Salut Pública, Islas Baleares, Spain.
¹¹ Federal Service for Surveillance on Consumer Rights Protection and Human Well-being (Rospotrebnadzor), Moscow, Russia.
¹² Department of Infectious Disease Prevention and Control, Common Community Commission, Brussels-Capital Region, Brussels, Belgium.
¹³ Chief Physician, Infection control unit, Lapland Hospital District, Rovaniemi, Finland.
¹⁴ County Medical Officer, Jönköping Region, Jönköping, Sweden.
¹⁵ Santé publique France - Direction des régions, Cellule régionale Nouvelle Aquitaine, Bordeaux, France.
¹⁶ Santé publique France - Direction des régions, Cellule régionale Ile-de-France, Paris, France.
¹⁷ Santé publique France - Direction des régions, Cellule régionale Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes, Lyon, France.
¹⁸ National Centre for Microbiology, WHO-National Influenza Centre, Institute of Health Carlos III. Madrid, Spain.
¹⁹ National Centre of Epidemiology, CIBERESP, Institute of Health Carlos III. Madrid, Spain.
²⁰ Dirección General de Salut Pública, Islas Baleares, Spain.
²¹ State Research Center of Virology and Biotechnology "Vector", Rospotrebnadzor, Moscow, Russia.
²² St. Pierre Hospital, Brussels, Belgium.
²³ Laboratory of Clinical Virology, Department of Microbiology and Immunology, Rega Institute, KU Leuven - University of Leuven, Leuven, Belgium.
²⁴ Epidemiology of infectious diseases, Sciensano, Brussels, Belgium.
²⁵ Expert Microbiology Unit, Department of Health Security, Finnish Institute for Health and Welfare (THL), Helsinki, Finland.
²⁶ Infectious Disease Control and Vaccinations Unit, Department of Health Security, Finnish Institute for Health and Welfare (THL), Helsinki, Finland.
²⁷ Public Health Agency of Sweden, Solna, Sweden.
²⁸ Jönköping Region, Jönköping, Sweden.
²⁹ These authors have contributed equally to the manuscript.

PMID: 32156327
PMCID: PMC7068164
DOI: 10.2807/1560-7917.ES.2020.25.9.2000178

First cases of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) in the WHO European Region, 24 January to 21 February 2020

Gianfranco Spiteri et al. Euro Surveill. 2020 Mar.

. 2020 Mar;25(9):2000178.

doi: 10.2807/1560-7917.ES.2020.25.9.2000178.

Authors

Affiliations

¹ European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control, Stockholm, Sweden.
² World Health Organisation Regional Office for Europe, Copenhagen, Denmark.
³ Robert Koch Institute, Berlin, Germany.
⁴ Santé Publique France - Direction des maladies infectieuses, Saint-Maurice, France.
⁵ Centre national de référence Virus des infections respiratoires, dont la grippe, Institut Pasteur, Paris, France.
⁶ Centre national de référence Virus des infections respiratoires, dont la grippe, Hospices civils de Lyon, Lyon, France.
⁷ Istituto Superiore di Sanita, Rome, Italy.
⁸ Istituto Nazionale Malattie Infettive Lazzaro Spallanzani, Rome, Italy.
⁹ Coordination Centre for Health Alerts and Emergencies. Spanish Ministry of Health, Madrid, Spain.
¹⁰ Servicio de Epidemiología, Dirección General de Salut Pública, Islas Baleares, Spain.
¹¹ Federal Service for Surveillance on Consumer Rights Protection and Human Well-being (Rospotrebnadzor), Moscow, Russia.
¹² Department of Infectious Disease Prevention and Control, Common Community Commission, Brussels-Capital Region, Brussels, Belgium.
¹³ Chief Physician, Infection control unit, Lapland Hospital District, Rovaniemi, Finland.
¹⁴ County Medical Officer, Jönköping Region, Jönköping, Sweden.
¹⁵ Santé publique France - Direction des régions, Cellule régionale Nouvelle Aquitaine, Bordeaux, France.
¹⁶ Santé publique France - Direction des régions, Cellule régionale Ile-de-France, Paris, France.
¹⁷ Santé publique France - Direction des régions, Cellule régionale Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes, Lyon, France.
¹⁸ National Centre for Microbiology, WHO-National Influenza Centre, Institute of Health Carlos III. Madrid, Spain.
¹⁹ National Centre of Epidemiology, CIBERESP, Institute of Health Carlos III. Madrid, Spain.
²⁰ Dirección General de Salut Pública, Islas Baleares, Spain.
²¹ State Research Center of Virology and Biotechnology "Vector", Rospotrebnadzor, Moscow, Russia.
²² St. Pierre Hospital, Brussels, Belgium.
²³ Laboratory of Clinical Virology, Department of Microbiology and Immunology, Rega Institute, KU Leuven - University of Leuven, Leuven, Belgium.
²⁴ Epidemiology of infectious diseases, Sciensano, Brussels, Belgium.
²⁵ Expert Microbiology Unit, Department of Health Security, Finnish Institute for Health and Welfare (THL), Helsinki, Finland.
²⁶ Infectious Disease Control and Vaccinations Unit, Department of Health Security, Finnish Institute for Health and Welfare (THL), Helsinki, Finland.
²⁷ Public Health Agency of Sweden, Solna, Sweden.
²⁸ Jönköping Region, Jönköping, Sweden.
²⁹ These authors have contributed equally to the manuscript.

PMID: 32156327
PMCID: PMC7068164
DOI: 10.2807/1560-7917.ES.2020.25.9.2000178

Abstract

In the WHO European Region, COVID-19 surveillance was implemented 27 January 2020. We detail the first European cases. As at 21 February, nine European countries reported 47 cases. Among 38 cases studied, 21 were linked to two clusters in Germany and France, 14 were infected in China. Median case age was 42 years; 25 were male. Late detection of the clusters' index cases delayed isolation of further local cases. As at 5 March, there were 4,250 cases.

Keywords: COVID-19; Novel coronavirus; SARS; SARS-COV-2; coronavirus disease 2019.

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Conflict of interest statement

Conflict of interest: None declared.

Figures

**Figure**
Epidemic curve of reported COVID-19 cases by date of symptom onset, or date of notification, WHO European Region, as at 21 February 2020 (n = 38)^a,b

See this image and copyright information in PMC

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References

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[1] Wuhan City Health Committee (WCHC). Wuhan Municipal Health and Health Commission's briefing on the current pneumonia epidemic situation in our city 2019. [Accessed 14 Jan 2020]. Available from: http://wjw.wuhan.gov.cn/front/web/showDetail/2019123108989

[2] Wuhan City Health Committee (WCHC). Wuhan Municipal Health and Health Commission's briefing on the current pneumonia epidemic situation in our city 2019. [Accessed 14 Jan 2020]. Available from: http://wjw.wuhan.gov.cn/front/web/showDetail/2019123108989

[3] European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC). Rapid Risk Assessment: Outbreak of acute respiratory syndrome associated with a novel coronavirus, Wuhan, China; first update – 22 January 2020. Stockholm: ECDC; 2020. Available from: https://www.ecdc.europa.eu/en/publications-data/risk-assessment-outbreak...

[4] European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC). Rapid Risk Assessment: Outbreak of acute respiratory syndrome associated with a novel coronavirus, Wuhan, China; first update – 22 January 2020. Stockholm: ECDC; 2020. Available from: https://www.ecdc.europa.eu/en/publications-data/risk-assessment-outbreak...

[5] European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC). Outbreak of acute respiratory syndrome associated with a novel coronavirus, China: first local transmission in the EU/EEA – third update. 31 January 2020. Stockholm: ECDC; 2020. Available from: https://www.ecdc.europa.eu/en/publications-data/risk-assessment-outbreak...

[6] European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC). Outbreak of acute respiratory syndrome associated with a novel coronavirus, China: first local transmission in the EU/EEA – third update. 31 January 2020. Stockholm: ECDC; 2020. Available from: https://www.ecdc.europa.eu/en/publications-data/risk-assessment-outbreak...

[7] European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC). Geographical distribution of 2019-nCov cases globally 2020 – 02 February 2020. Stockholm: ECDC. [Accessed 12 Feb 2020]. Available from: https://www.ecdc.europa.eu/en/geographical-distribution-2019-ncov-cases

[8] European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC). Geographical distribution of 2019-nCov cases globally 2020 – 02 February 2020. Stockholm: ECDC. [Accessed 12 Feb 2020]. Available from: https://www.ecdc.europa.eu/en/geographical-distribution-2019-ncov-cases

[9] World Health Organization Regional Office for Europe. ((WHO/Europe). Countries 2020. Copenhagen: WHO/Europe. [Accessed 12 Feb 2020]. Available from: http://www.euro.who.int/en/countries

[10] World Health Organization Regional Office for Europe. ((WHO/Europe). Countries 2020. Copenhagen: WHO/Europe. [Accessed 12 Feb 2020]. Available from: http://www.euro.who.int/en/countries

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First cases of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) in the WHO European Region, 24 January to 21 February 2020

Affiliations

First cases of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) in the WHO European Region, 24 January to 21 February 2020

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Abstract

Conflict of interest statement

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