ZooNotify: Data on zoonotic agents and their resistance for 2024 now online Interactive portal brings together data from zoonosis monitoring in Germany
What it's about:
Zoonoses – infections that can be transmitted between animals and humans – represent one of the greatest challenges for consumer health protection. The infectious agents are transmitted not only through direct contact, but often also via contaminated food, which can cause illness in humans. Every year, thousands of samples of food and feed, as well as farm and wild animals, are tested in Germany as part of the zoonosis monitoring.
The results of the zoonosis monitoring for 2024 have now been published on the interactive online portal ZooNotify of the German Federal Institute for Risk Assessment (BfRshort forGerman Federal Institute for Risk Assessment). Interested parties can use the web interface to search for pathogens, animal and production types, and foods, and obtain information on the prevalence of the zoonotic agent and their microbiological properties. The antibiotic resistance of bacteria from animals and food is also presented. The data and graphs can be downloaded and used for your own evaluations or presentations.
In 2024, for example, fresh chicken and turkey meat from retailers, as well as ready-to-eat leafy salads, different flours and sesame products, were tested for various types of bacteria. These include pathogens such as Salmonella, Campylobacter spp., Listeria and Shiga toxin-producing Escherichia coli (E. colishort forEscherichia coli), and resistant bacteria
The ZooNotify data portal was launched in 2022. It bundles data on more than 55,000 bacterial isolates from over 230,000 samples and 15 years of monitoring. The BfRshort forGerman Federal Institute for Risk Assessment makes the information findable, accessible, interoperable and reusable in accordance with the FAIR principles. It thus supports research and risk assessment as well as political decisions in the One Health context and the open data strategy of the German government and the EU.
The platform is bilingual (German/English) and is aimed at academia, public authorities, politicians, the media and interested members of the public. Further information and access to data from 2024 can be found atExternal Link: https://zoonotify.bfr.berlin.
Contact: info@zoonotify.bfr.berlin
The German Federal Office of Consumer Protection and Food Safety (BVLshort forGerman Federal Office of Consumer Protection and Food Safety) is responsible for reporting on zoonosis monitoring (External Link:https://www.bvl.bund.de/EN/Tasks/01_Food/01_tasks/02_OfficialFoodControl/06_ZoonosesMonitoring/ZoonosesMonitoring_node.html). The full report for 2024 is available on the BVLshort forGerman Federal Office of Consumer Protection and Food Safety website (currently only available in German): External Link:www.bvl.bund.de/ZoonosenMonitoring
Zoonosis monitoring: background and objectives
Zoonosis monitoring systematically collects data on zoonotic agents that can be transmitted between animals and humans. The monitoring focuses in particular on those zoonotic pathogens that pose a significant risk to public health and can be transmitted to humans via food. Sampling takes place at all stages of the food chain – from farms to slaughterhouses and food manufacturers to food retailers. In addition, the development of antibiotic resistance is continuously monitored in order to protect both human health and responsible animal facilities.