In 2023 and 2024, an increasing number of people in the Netherlands fell ill due to salmonella. This is reported by the RIVM in its State of Infectious Diseases, the annual report that provides an overview of the most notable epidemiological developments in infectious diseases. There were also more people with diseases such as mumps, measles, and whooping cough, and the decline in the number of people with HIV human immunodeficiency virus (human immunodeficiency virus) stopped in 2024.

Notable trend continues: many more people with salmonella

The bacterium Salmonella Enteritidis caused many more people to have salmonella infections again in 2024. The number of poultry farms with salmonella also increased. This increases the chance that people eat contaminated food and become ill. The RIVM issued advice to the ministries of LVVN Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries, Food Security and Nature (Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries, Food Security and Nature) and VWS Ministry of Health, Welfare and Sport (Ministry of Health, Welfare and Sport), and the poultry sector took measures to reduce the number of salmonella infections in chickens.

More reports of mumps, measles and whooping cough

The percentage of vaccinated infants and toddlers appears to be lower in the last reporting year than in the year before. In the Netherlands, it has long been difficult to vaccinate at least 95 percent of children against mumps, measles, and rubella (MMR vaccination).

There were also more reports of infectious diseases such as measles, whooping cough, and mumps in 2024. These are diseases vaccinated against within the National Immunisation Programme. The high number of mumps reports was due to an outbreak in the so-called Bible Belt. For measles, the highest number of reports since 2013 was reached in 2024, while for whooping cough the highest number of reports was recorded since the start of mandatory reporting in 1976. In the case of whooping cough, this was probably mainly due to limited protection against this infection due to low exposure during the corona years.

Decline in HIV human immunodeficiency virus (human immunodeficiency virus) diagnoses stopped

The long-term decline in the number of people with a new HIV diagnosis in HIV treatment centers has stopped. The higher number of people diagnosed with HIV in sexual health centers in 2024 probably contributed to this. These were mainly men who have sex with men. Additional analyses by the HIV Monitoring Foundation predict that the number of new HIV infections will increase in the coming years. It is unclear why people seem to protect themselves less well against HIV.

Calculating disease burden

The disease burden indicates the number of years people cannot live in good health due to a disease. The disease burden of COVID-19 was again half as much in 2024 as in 2023, when it was already half of that in 2022. In 2024, COVID-19 still caused the highest disease burden in the Netherlands. This disease burden was for the first time approximately the same as that of influenza. Work is still ongoing to calculate the disease burden of post-COVID.

About the State of Infectious Diseases

Every year, the RIVM provides an overview of the most important developments in infectious diseases in the Netherlands, and when necessary, abroad. With the State of Infectious Diseases in the Netherlands, the RIVM informs policymakers, among others.