From July 2022, cases of imported diphtheria with toxigenic Corynebacterium diphtheriae remarkably increased among migrants arriving in Germany. Up to 30 September 2022, 44 cases have been reported to the national public health institute, all laboratory-confirmed, male, and mainly coming from Syria (n = 21) and Afghanistan (n = 17). Phylogeny and available journey information indicate that most cases (n = 19) were infected along the Balkan route. Active case finding, increased laboratory preparedness and epicentre localisation in countries along this route are important.
Keywords: Corynebacterium diphtheriae; Next Generation Sequencing; cgMLST; diphtheria; infectious disease outbreaks; migration and health; outbreak investigation; population surveillance; skin lesions; vaccine-preventable disease.