Persons using assistive technology might not be able to fully access information in this file. For assistance, please send e-mail to: mmwrq cdc. Type Accommodation and the title of the report in the subject line of e-mail. However, in the Netherlands, which typically has fewer than five cases a year, as of September , a total of 92 cases of LGV had been confirmed during the preceding 17 months among men who have sex with men MSM.
The first 13 cases, diagnosed during April--November , were reported by local health authorities in Rotterdam in December 2,3. In April , a report was made to CDC, and state and local health departments were alerted. Of the 92 cases confirmed in the Netherlands, 30 occurred during and 62 during This report describes the ongoing investigation of the LGV outbreak.
Health-care providers should be vigilant for LGV, especially among MSM exposed to persons from Europe, and prepared to diagnose the disease and provide appropriate treatment to patients and their exposed sex partners Box. The cases in the Netherlands were investigated by staff members of public health services, academic medical centers, and the National Institute of Public Health and Environment.
After the initial 13 cases were reported, efforts were implemented to increase awareness of the outbreak among health-care providers, staff at human immunodeficiency virus HIV --treatment centers and STD clinics, and members of the MSM community. As a result, an additional 17 confirmed cases and 40 probable cases that occurred in were identified retrospectively. LGV was diagnosed by conducting polymerase chain reaction PCR tests on rectal swab specimens and performing subsequent restriction endonuclease pattern analysis of the amplified outer membrane protein A gene to determine the genotype.
Probable cases were those in patients whose illness was consistent with the first two criteria and who also had a positive serologic test for C. Possible cases were in patients who met only the first criterion and had a positive serologic test. Increased awareness of the LGV outbreak resulted in retrospective reporting of cases and reporting of 62 confirmed cases in , as of September 1. Additional epidemiologic information was obtained on these 62 patients.
