BackgroundLeptospirosis is a zoonotic disease caused by bacteria of the genus Leptospira. Humans are infected by exposure to animal urine or urine-contaminated environments. Although disease incidence is lower in Europe compared with tropical regions, there have been reports of an increase in leptospirosis cases since the 2000s in some European countries.AimWe aimed to describe the epidemiology of reported cases of leptospirosis in the European Union/European Economic Area (EU/EEA) during 2010-2021 and to identify potential changes in epidemiological patterns.MethodsWe ran a descriptive analysis of leptospirosis cases reported by EU/EEA countries to the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control with disease during 2010-2021. We also analysed trends at EU/EEA and national level.ResultsDuring 2010-2021, 23 countries reported 12,180 confirmed leptospirosis cases corresponding to a mean annual notification rate of 0.24 cases per 100,000 population. Five countries (France, Germany, the Netherlands, Portugal and Romania) accounted for 79% of all reported cases. The highest notification rate was observed in Slovenia with 0.82 cases per 100,000 population. Overall, the notification rate increased by 5.0% per year from 2010 to 2021 (95% CI: 1.2-8.8%), although trends differed across countries.ConclusionThe notification rate of leptospirosis at EU/EEA level increased during 2010-2021 despite including the first 2 years of the COVID-19 pandemic and associated changes in population behaviours. Studies at (sub)national level would help broaden the understanding of differences at country-level and specificities in terms of exposure to Leptospira, as well as biases in diagnosis and reporting.

Center for Health Security and Communicable Disease Control Directorate of Health Iceland

Centre for Disease Prevention and Control of Latvia Riga Latvia

Centre for Epidemiology and Microbiology Department of Infectious Diseases Epidemiology National Institute of Public Health Prague Czechia

Centre for Infectious Disease Control National Institute for Public Health and the Environment Bilthoven the Netherlands

Department of Communicable Diseases Epidemiology Health Board Tallinn Estonia

Department of Health Security Finnish Institute for Health and Welfare Helsinki Finland

Department of Infectious Disease Epidemiology and Prevention Statens Serum Institut Copenhagen Denmark

Department of Infectious Disease Epidemiology Robert Koch Institute Berlin Germany

Directorate of Epidemiological Surveillance and Intervention for Infectious Diseases National Public Health Organization Athens Greece

Directorate of Information and Analysis Directorate General of Health Lisbon Portugal

Epidemiology Unit Regional Health Agency of Tuscany Florence Italy

European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control Stockholm Sweden

Health Inspection Health Directorate Luxembourg

Health Protection Surveillance Centre Dublin Ireland

Infectious Disease Prevention and Control Unit Health Promotion and Disease Prevention Directorate Pieta Malta

Institut Pasteur Unité Biologie des spirochètes Centre National de Référence de la Leptospirose Paris France

Medical and Public Health Services Nicosia Cyprus

National Centre for Surveillance and Control if Communicable Diseases National Institute of Public Health Bucharest Romania

National Centre of Epidemiology Carlos 3 Institute of Health Madrid Spain

National Institute of Public Health Ljubljana Slovenia

National Institute of Public Health NIH National Research Institute Warsaw Poland

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