The European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) on Thursday 12 January published a scientific opinion on the monitoring and early detection of zoonoses involving wildlife to help implement the integrated, systemic and unified ‘One health’ approach (animal health, human health and environmental health) promoted by the EU.
The EFSA opinion contains recommendations and technical specifications based on the ten priority zoonotic pathogens it has identified, namely highly pathogenic avian influenza, swine influenza, West Nile disease, tick-borne encephalitis, echinococcosis, Crimean-Congo haemorrhagic fever, hepatitis E, Lyme disease, Q fever and Rift Valley fever.
Thus, EFSA proposes:
- general recommendations for the first steps towards sustainable monitoring of zoonotic diseases in wildlife in the EU.
- specific surveillance recommendations for risk-based early detection of pathogens in key wildlife groups.
- a framework for the integration of animal disease surveillance components (wildlife, domestic, environment) for early detection in the context of the ‘One Health’ approach.
It should be noted that a ‘One Health’ Directorate has recently been established within the European Commission’s Health and Food Safety Services (see EUROPE 13036/28).
For the EFSA opinion: https://aeur.eu/f/4vs (Original version in French by Aminata Niang)