Sciensano organised a workshop on September 29, 2023 on the surveillance of zoonotic influenza viruses and salmonella in Belgium. The conclusions of the workshop help lay the foundations for future surveillance of both pathogens in our country.
The workshop was part of the UNITED4Surveillance project, which focuses on strengthening infectious disease surveillance. The consortium consists of 42 partners from more than 20 countries in the European Union. The project focuses in particular on the important link between the health of people, animals and the environment, also known as the One Health concept. Zoonotic influenza viruses and salmonella are two good examples of this link, which demonstrate that cooperation between the public health sector and the food and veterinary sector is crucial.
“All partners showed a great willingness to collaborate on a surveillance system across the different sectors”, said Dieter Van Cauteren, scientist at Sciensano. “After an overview of the existing surveillance systems for humans, animals and food, the partners jointly made a first design of the desired future surveillance structure for zoonotic influenza viruses and salmonella. The aim is to be better prepared for a possible outbreak and to prevent the spread through animals or food and thus reduce the burden of disease in humans.”
We thank all participants : Federal Public Service for Health, Food chain safety and Environment, Departement Zorg, Agence pour une Vie de Qualité, Gemeenschappelijke Gemeenschapscommissie, Federal agency for safety of the food chain, University of Liège, University of Ghent, the Royal Belgian Institute of Natural Sciences, Arsia, Dierengezondheidszorg Vlaanderen and Sciensano for the commitment and enthusiasm that made this workshop a great success.