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Peer-Reviewed Publication
N Engl J Med2025;392(23):2334-2345.June 19, 2025Journal Article

Corynebacterium diphtheriae Outbreak in Migrant Populations in Europe.

Andreas Hoefer1, Helena Seth-Smith2, Federica Palma3,4, Stefanie Schindler5, Luca Freschi1, Alexandra Dangel6, Anja Berger7, Joshua D'Aeth8, Rebecca Cordery9, Enrique Delgado-Rodriguez1, Eva Gruner10, Domenica Flury11, Vladimira Hinic2, Julian Kofler12, Reto Lienhard13, Rob Mariman14, Oliver Nolte2,15, Adrian Schibli16, Julie Toubiana4,17,18, Marianna Traugott19, Stephanie Jacquinet20, Alexander Indra5, Norman K Fry8,9, Daniel Palm1, Andreas Sing7,21, Sylvain Brisse3,4,17, Adrian Egli2,
1European Center for Disease Prevention and Control, Solna, Sweden.
2Institute of Medical Microbiology, University of Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland.
3Biological Resource Center, Institut Pasteur, Université Paris Cité, Paris.
4Biodiversity and Epidemiology of Bacterial Pathogens, Institut Pasteur, Université Paris Cité, Paris.
5Institute for Medical Microbiology and Hygiene, Austrian Agency for Health and Food Safety, Vienna.
6Next-Generation Sequencing Core Unit, Public Health Microbiology, Bavarian Health and Food Safety Authority, Oberschleißheim, Germany.
7National Consiliary Laboratory on Diphtheria, Bavarian Health and Food Safety Authority, World Health Organization Collaborating Center for Diphtheria, European Reference Laboratory for Diphtheria and Pertussis, Oberschleißheim, Germany.
8Vaccine Preventable Bacteria Section, Respiratory and Vaccine Preventable Bacteria Reference Unit, Specialised Microbiology and Laboratories Directorate, U.K. Health Security Agency, London.
9Immunisation and Vaccine Preventable Diseases Division, U.K. Health Security Agency, London.
10Medica, Zurich, Switzerland.
11Kantonsspital St. Gallen, St. Gallen, Switzerland.
12Department for Dermatology and Venereology, Hospital Klagenfurt am Wörthersee, Klagenfurt am Wörthersee, Austria.
13ADMED Microbiologie, La Chaux-de-Fonds, Switzerland.
14Rijksinstituut voor Volksgezondheid en Milieu, Bilthoven, the Netherlands.
15Center for Laboratory Medicine, St. Gallen, Switzerland.
16Division of Infectious Diseases and Infection Prevention, Stadtspital Zürich, Zurich, Switzerland.
17National Reference Center for Corynebacteria of the Diphtheriae Complex, European Reference Laboratory for Diphtheria and Pertussis, Institut Pasteur, Paris.
18Department of General Pediatrics and Pediatric Infectious Diseases, Université Paris Cité, Hôpital Necker-Enfants Malades, Assistance Publique-Hôpitaux de Paris, Paris.
19Department for Infectious Diseases and Tropical Medicine, Klinik Favoriten, Vienna.
20Sciensano, Brussels.
21Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität, Munich, Germany.
PubMed DOI

Abstract

BACKGROUND: A surge of cases of Corynebacterium diphtheriae infection was observed in reception centers for migrants in Europe beginning in the summer of 2022. Most of the cases were cutaneous, although some respiratory cases as well as one death were reported. A pan-European consortium was created to assess the clinical, epidemiologic, and microbiologic features of this outbreak. METHODS: We ass…

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