Establishment of a coordinated disease surveillance system (in Croatia) in accordance with the OH approach

The main goal of CROOH project is setting up a coordinated surveillance system under the One Health approach not established so far at the national level. For that purpose, EFSA in its scientific report listed the diseases that were prioritized in the 10 diseases for which monitoring strategies should first be developed. The diseases are: Crimean-Congo haemorrhagic fever, echinococcosis, hepatitis E, influenza (swine), influenza (avian), Lyme borreliosis, Q-fever, Rift Valley fever, tick-borne encephalitis, and West Nile fever. The project envisages the monitoring of nine diseases (without influenza (avian)), which will be accomplished through 4 work packages (WP2-WP5): Vectors and environment, Farm animals, Wild animals and Small companion animals. In this way, proposed monitoring system will maximise detection possibilities for prioritised diseases enabling faster response in pathogens emergence using optimal diagnostic producers. Within the framework of the project, a national body (in WP 6) will be established that will include relevant experts from already existing systems dealing with the surveillance of human and animal diseases, as well as the environment, in order to ensure the most efficient surveillance system through the One Health approach and thus contribute even more to the health protection of people and animals. The results obtained in this research will be stored in the newly created database and used to create a risk assessment on the national level to enable prioritization of diseases, and will be regularly submitted to EFSA (under the WP8). During the CROOH project, target groups for the dissemination of information will be determined, and awareness-raising activities will be carried out for all interested parties through public information tools (WP7). In the end, the project will result in setting up an improved coordinated surveillance system in Croatia under the One Health approach for cross-border pathogens that threaten the European Union.