Scaling up One health vector-borne zoonotic diseases Monitoring and Surveillance in Spain

The primary objective of this application is the improvement of zoonotic vector-borne diseases surveillance in Spain, focused on three of the priority diseases, decided in the EFSA prioritization exercise, to be under the umbrella of this Grant. These diseases are Crimea Congo Haemorrhagic Fever (CCHF), West Nile (WN) and Rift Valley fever (RVF). We would like to apply this Grant for the implementation and/or improvement of both the monitoring of the competent vectors (population abundance and dynamics) and the surveillance of the diseases (early detection of the virus in vector specimens) in the vector population from a One health and risk-based perspective, to complement previous scattered information on vectors abundance and dynamics and to anticipate incursion/amplification/emergence events in animals and human population to assist decision-makers and risk managers to put in place early and informed mitigation measures to reduce the impact of these diseases in the human and animal population. The project will contribute to build up a One health surveillance system and will be integrated on previous works developed on the human, environmental and animal health sides. At National level, the project will be under the umbrella of the One Health national vector-borne disease Prevention, Surveillance and Control Plan, that is at the final review process by all regional and national authorities from Ministry of Agriculture, Ministry of Health, and Ministry of Environment. The Grant will be used for the implementation of three specific components, which will be in line with this national Plan. Although Spain is applying on its own, coordination and communication with other countries/consortiums working in similar projects have been ongoing and will continue during the implementation of this activities with the objective of sharing approaches and results to make information comparable at EU level regarding vector populations and risk associated to these diseases.