International travel continues to be impacted due to COVID-19, and the number of variant strains which have emerged globally. Guidance on international travel is available for people living in Scotland, England, Wales and Northern Ireland.

Since 11 February 2022, the rules for international travellers arriving in the UK have changed. In Scotland, travellers who are fully vaccinated no longer need to take a COVID-19 test within two days of arrival in the UK, but still must complete a Passenger Locator Form (PLF) in the 48 hours before travelling. Summaries are available detailing the changes for travellers arriving into Scotland, England, Wales and Northern Ireland.

Country specific COVID-19 risk

Country pages on the fitfortravel (for the general public) and TRAVAX (for health professionals) websites include a COVID-19 country specific risk-rating, which identifies the risk of exposure to COVID-19 for UK travellers. This information is listed in the Alerts section on each individual fitfortravel country page and the Emerging Health Risks section of each individual TRAVAX country page. This risk-rating identifies each country as having either:

• a high risk of exposure to COVID-19 for UK travellers, or   
• a risk of exposure to COVID-19 for UK travellers

For all countries, travellers should be aware that the risk of COVID-19 may change at short notice. Countries categorised as high-risk either have a greater risk of travellers being exposed to COVID-19, or an increased risk of emerging, or known variants, of coronavirus. Travellers should be advised to avoid non-essential travel to high-risk countries, even if fully vaccinated against COVID-19.

Advice for travellers

Prior to booking any international travel, travellers must first check if the country they are travelling to is currently accepting UK travellers.

• The FCDO foreign travel advice country pages have up-to-date information on entry rules, in response to coronavirus (COVID-19), under the Entry Requirements section.  
• Travellers should be aware that some countries or territories may require proof of COVID-19 vaccination status for entry. Guidance for demonstrating COVID-19 vaccination status is available for those living in Scotland, England, Wales and Northern Ireland.

It is advised that travellers are aware of all travel restrictions, self-isolation rules and precautions they should take, in order to reduce their risk of exposure to coronavirus (COVID-19) before, during and after travel, as detailed on the fitfortravel COVID-19 health considerations for travel page.

Source: TRAVAX, 1 February 2022

On 16 February 2022, the Global Polio Eradication Initiative (GPEI) reported two cases of polio in Mozambique, one each in the provinces of Nampula and Cabo Delgado.

Advice for travellers

• Poliomyelitis is spread mainly through person-to-person contact via the faecal-oral route, and travellers should be offered a booster dose of poliomyelitis vaccine if it has been more than 10 years since their last dose.

More information can be found on the TRAVAX Mozambique and poliomyelitis webpages (for health professionals) and on the fitfortravel Mozambique and poliomyelitis webpages (for the general public).

Source: TRAVAX, 18 February 2022

On 23 February 2022, the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) published a rapid risk assessment, following an increase in extensively-drug resistant Shigella sonnei (S. sonnei) infections among men who have sex with men (MSM) in the EU, EEA and UK.

On 27 January 2022, the United Kingdom Health Security Agency (UKHSA) reported an increase in extensively-drug resistant S. sonnei infections. Since then, nine other European countries have reported cases of shigellosis with sampling dates from 2020 to 2022, and with isolates either closely genetically related by whole genome sequencing (WGS), or with the same, or a very similar resistance profile. Most cases were in MSM, and a large proportion of the patients with available information were reported to be infected through sexual transmission.

Source: ECDC, 23 February 2022

On 21 February 2022, the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) published a rapid risk assessment, following an outbreak of at least 277 cases of Candida auris (C. auris) throughout eight healthcare facilities in Laguria, northern Italy, from July 2019 to December 2021. A further 11 cases have been reported in healthcare facilities in the neighbouring region of Emilia-Romagna.

C. auris poses a risk for patients in healthcare facilities across the EU and EEA due to its ability to cause infections in critically ill patients and resistance to several antifungal agents, making infections difficult to treat. Patients hospitalised with severe COVID-19 are at risk of healthcare-associated infections, including candidaemia, and various outbreaks of C. auris among COVID-19 patients have been reported worldwide.

Given the high number of cases, the spread of C. auris to various healthcare facilities in Liguria, interregional spread to Emilia-Romagna and the difficulty to contain the outbreak, the risk of further spread within Italy is considered to be high. As local and national control measures are being implemented, the risk of the introduction of C. auris into other EU and EEA countries from this specific outbreak in northern Italy remains low unless hospitalised patients are transferred from this region. However, given the worldwide spread of C. auris and previous detection of sporadic cases and outbreaks in EU and EEA countries, the likelihood exists that more undetected cases will eventually enter the EU and EEA from regions with less capacity for C. auris surveillance and control, and continued vigilance should be exercised.

Source: ECDC, 21 February 2022

On 15 February 2022, the World Health Organization (WHO) launched a new guideline providing countries with evidence-based recommendations, in an effort to achieve control and elimination of schistosomiasis as a public health problem, and to move towards interruption of transmission.

The WHO hope this guideline will help achieve the 2030 target for eliminating schistosomiasis as a public health problem and the interruption of transmission in humans in selected countries, as set out in the 2021 to 2030 road map for neglected tropical diseases. There are several evidence-based recommendations towards achieving this target in countries with high or low prevalence of the disease, which are:

• an expansion of preventive chemotherapy to all in need, including adults and preschool-aged children
• a single prevalence threshold to conduct preventive chemotherapy and its frequency
• frequency of preventive chemotherapy in transmission hot spots
• safety of praziquantel in the treatment of:
  • children aged two years and over
  • adults
  • pregnant women after the first trimester
  • lactating women
• implementation of snail control as a strategy to reduce transmission
• implementation of cross-sectoral approaches, including water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH)
• diagnostic strategies for assessment of infection in humans, animals and snails, and the environment

The guideline, which was launched during a WHO-hosted webinar as part of World Neglected Tropical Diseases Day 2022, comes after years of progress and a scale-up of interventions made possible through the increased availability of donated praziquantel, the recommended medicine against all forms of schistosomiasis. Furthermore, the guideline comes at a time when the global community is integrating approaches to tackle neglected tropical diseases, which includes working closely with sectors such as WASH and One Health.

During the webinar, panellists spoke of the need to treat everyone, in both high and low prevalence settings. Discussion also focused on how to monitor and evaluate future integrated interventions and how best to use methods in making informed decisions.

Vector and zoonotic control, and interventions aimed at treating all types of morbidities associated with schistosomiasis including female genital schistosomiasis, were discussed, as well as advocacy, sustainability and domestic resource mobilization in sustaining progress towards elimination.

Schistosomiasis, also known as bilharziasis, is an acute and chronic parasitic disease caused by infection with blood flukes (trematode worms) and has been reported in 78 countries. People may become infected during routine agricultural, domestic, occupational and recreational activities, which can expose them to infested water. Lack of hygiene and certain recreational habits of school-aged children, such as swimming or fishing in infested water, make them especially vulnerable to infection.

Source: WHO, 22 February 2022

The Food Standards Agency (FSA) has published the findings of a UK-wide survey of antimicrobial resistance (AMR) in Escherichia coli (E. coli) and Campylobacter bacteria from lamb and turkey meat on UK retail sale. Previously, the FSA’s surveys have focused on UK retail beef, pork and chicken meat, resulting in a lack of comparable data on AMR bacteria found in lamb and turkey meat.

Several findings have been made from the sampling of 210 lamb and 210 turkey meat products:

• AmpC/ESBL resistant E. coli was detected in 1% of lamb and 11% of turkey meat samples, whilst carbapenem resistance was not detected.
• A transferable colistin resistance gene was detected in E. coli from 1% of turkey samples. Although this is the first time this type of resistance has been found in UK retail turkey meat, an FSA risk assessment was carried out and deemed the risk to be very low.
• The prevalence of Campylobacter in turkey was 11%, with the most common resistances detected were to ciprofloxacin, tetracycline and nalidixic acid.

Source: FSA, 23 February 2022

The Department for Environment, Farm and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) has announced that the import from Lithuania of mice and rats used as animal feed will be prohibited from 17 February 2022. This decision has been made due to an ongoing outbreak of Salmonella enteritidis among the UK public, which has been linked to mice imported from Lithuania for use as animal feed, particularly for reptiles.

All four UK countries have published a declaration of special measures relating to this decision, which will remain in place until revoked or amended. The measures will be reviewed over the coming months to take into account any actions taken by Lithuanian authorities to control the risk from imports of feeder rodents in the long-term.

Source: DEFRA, 16 February 2022

The European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) reports that monitoring data on the presence of residues of veterinary medicines and contaminants in animals and animal-derived food show high rates of compliance with recommended safety levels in the EU. The report summarises monitoring data collected in 2020 and is underpinned by information available on the Knowledge Junction, the EFSA’s open repository.

The percentage of samples that exceeded maximum levels was 0.19% and this is the lowest figure in 11 years, when non-compliance ranged from 0.25% to 0.37%. The figure for 2019 was 0.30%.

Compared to the previous three years, 2020 saw a rise in compliancy rates for antithyroid agents, steroids and resorcylic acid lactones. Rises in compliance were also noted for anthelmintics, organochlorine compounds, organophosphorus compounds, dyes and other substances, again in comparison with the previous three years.

Source: EFSA, 25 February 2022

The Scottish Government have announced the establishment of Scotland's Heat Network Fund, backed by £300 million of funding, supporting the development and roll out of zero emission heat networks. This new fund takes over from the Low Carbon Infrastructure Transition Programme and is part of an overall £1.8 billion committed over the course of this parliament, aimed at decarbonising heating in buildings.

The fund will support projects where the heat for individual properties is supplied from a communal source, examples being some homes, schools, workplaces and other buildings.

In addition, the Scottish Government have also announced the opening of applications to the Social Housing Net Zero Heat Development Fund, which will target small- and medium-sized registered social landlords (RSLs) who require additional support to plan and deliver the roll out of zero emissions heating within their housing stock. Furthermore, funding for Fabric First energy efficiency projects in social housing has been extended for an additional two years.

Scotland’s Heat Network Fund is open to all public and private sector applicants and proposals can be submitted to the fund at any time, with quarterly reports to be provided showing committed spend against the allocated budget.

The Social Housing Net Zero Heat Development Fund will be open to applications from 21 February to 30 May 2022, on the understanding that all development work be fully completed by 31 October 2022, although possible extensions may be granted depending on the scale of the work being undertaken.

Applications for Fabric First funding can be submitted from 21 February 2022, with all works being completed by 30 March 2024.

Source: Scottish Government, 21 February 2022

On 18 February 2022, the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) updated their report on emissions of air pollutants in the UK, covering the levels and trends in emissions of six air pollutants, with statistics covering the period from 1970 to 2020. Data comes from the National Atmospheric Emissions Inventory (NAEI), which is compiled using internationally agreed methods and a wide range of survey and administrative data sources including sources from government departments, agencies and commercial organisations.

Air pollution is a local, regional and international problem caused by the emission of pollutants, which either directly or through chemical reactions in the atmosphere lead to negative impacts on human health and ecosystems.

There are many sources of air pollution, including, but not limited to, power stations, transport, household heating, agriculture and industrial processes. The NAEI provides estimates of the number of different pollutants that are emitted into the air each year from human activity in the UK. Knowledge of the sources of pollution aids the development of strategies to reduce air pollution from human activities and thereby reduce the impact of pollution on health and the environment.

The report covers UK emissions of:

• particulate matter (PM10)
• particulate matter (PM2.5)
• nitrogen oxides (NOx)
• ammonia (NH3)
• non-methane volatile organic compounds (NMVOCs)
• sulphur dioxide (SO2)

Source: DEFRA, 21 February 2022

Statistics detailing the environmental performance of Scottish regulated businesses in 2019 have been published by the Scottish Environment Protection Agency (SEPA), with 91% of sites recorded as having excellent, good or broadly compliant ratings. This is the fifth year in a row where over 75% of all sites were rated excellent.

A key part of SEPA’s regulatory strategy, is to drive all businesses not yet meeting standards into full compliance with the environmental laws in Scotland. SEPA’s Compliance Assessment Scheme (CAS) rates an operator’s environmental performance against their licence conditions. SEPA will consult widely on a new, publicly accessible compliance assessment approach in 2022.

Source: SEPA, 18 February 2022