Webinars on increasing preparedness for highly pathogenic avian influenza in Europe: 1) Upcoming call for active surveillance in wild birds and 2) Updates on EFSA’s Bird Flu Radar

Background

In line with EFSA’s strategic objective to increase preparedness, several outsourcing activities have targeted the development and implementation of early warning systems for highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) to allow Member States sufficient time for their outbreak response and management. In this context, two webinars were organised on 12 September 2023.

The first webinar of this series offered first-hand information on EFSA’s upcoming call for the establishment of an active surveillance network for HPAI across Europe*. This call will be launched in November 2023 and represents an opportunity for Member States to complement, top up and strengthen their existing activities related to the surveillance of HPAI in wild birds. It aims to build capacities and long-term partnerships with relevant actors in a variety of geographical settings. The webinar gave participants an overview of the specific tasks and application procedures, and provided answers to several questions, which can be consulted in the Q&A document below.

The second webinar provided an update on EFSA’s Bird Flu Radar (currently accessible through the Migration Mapping Tool), an early warning system based on spatio-temporal risk assessment. Content covered included developments in the methodology and alert messaging system, new functionalities, and an outlook to the future.

Objectives of the events

The events aimed to inform interested stakeholders about EFSA’s upcoming and ongoing activities for increasing increasing preparedness for HPAI in Europe, and illustrated how they may get involved.

* Please note that only Article 36 organisations are eligible to apply for the upcoming call, but the webinar was be open for any interested parties.