Theme leaders:
Dr Louise Kelly, Veterinary Laboratories Agency, United
Kingdom. Dr Franz Conraths, Friedrich-Loeffler-Institute,
Germany.
Assessing the risk of introduction of an epizootic disease
in Europe, and its potential consequences, should be an integral
part of any surveillance programme. Despite the
availability of the OIE guidelines, there remain differences in the
approaches used by organisations, and different countries within
Europe, when undertaking
risk assessments. In addition, criteria for determining whether or
not data are appropriate for risk assessments do not
exist. EPIZONE focuses on advancing the
discipline of risk assessment through the standardisation of
methods and the collection of appropriate data.
Work Package 7.1: Standardisation of import risk
assessment
Work Package 7.2: European online database on epizootic diseases as
an early warning system
Work Package 7.3: Decision support system for CSF
Work Package 7.4: Impact of environmental effects on the risk of
introduction of epizootic diseases in Europe:Identification and
Prioritisation
What happened in the EPIZONE network in the field of Risk Asessment in 2007-2008
What is going on in the EPIZONE network in the field of Risk Assessment
WP 7.1
- Existing assessments are reviewed and characterized, to assess the need for standardization of animal and animal product import risk assessments. The quality of the risk assessments was quantitatively rated based on peer review and quality audit guidelines. The results showed that a substantial proportion of the reviewed risk assessments failed to comply with international guidelines.
-
Improving the format of risk assessments and bring the guidelines for preparing risk assessments into accordance with the needs of the authorities asking for such risk assessments.
WP 7.2
- A European Online Data Base on Epizootic Diseases is build using a standard data set. The data base can retrieve surveillance data from existing national data bases, link the information on pathogens to sequence data bases and incorporate all data into a geographic information system.
WP 7.3
- An electronic tool that helps to assess the risk of classical swine fever being present in a herd is evaluated
WP7.4
- Experts identify and prioritise potential disease threats to Europe as a result of changing environments and visualise them using a geographic information system. The results should allow predictions on emerging animal diseases in the next decades.
Publications here
WP Posters 2009
