CA17110 - Standardizing output-based surveillance to control non-regulated diseases of cattle in the EU (SOUND-control)

Several countries have implemented programmes to control non-regulated cattle diseases in the European Union, impairing the comparison of the confidence of freedom for cattle originating from different countries. In order to facilitate safe trade, there is a need to support the development of transparent methods that enable comparison of outputs of surveillance, control or eradication programmes.

In this Action, Innovative methods for Standardizing OUtput-based surveillance to control Non-regulated Diseases in the EU (SOUND-control), work will be conducted in five workgroups to develop a generic and joint understanding about the requirements and characteristics needed for proof of freedom and subsequent costs-effectiveness, regardless of heterogeneities in the underlying data. SOUND-control will coordinate, stimulate and assist with initiatives to explore and implement a widely adaptable, output-based framework to substantiate confidence of freedom from infection and assess epidemiological and economic equivalence of control efforts.

The workgroups will describe current control programmes, provide requirements for an output-based framework, evaluate data availability and assess available and innovative methods for objective and standardised output-based comparison.

With the new Animal Health Law, it is anticipated that disease control will progressively change towards output-based approaches. SOUND-control will support the Animal Health Law by providing requirements and demands for a single general regulatory framework, adaptable to multiple diseases, which aims to enhance the safety of trade. Although the primary focus of this Action concerns non-regulated diseases, the outcomes of this work will be applicable to regulated diseases in the EU, which are currently underpinned by input-based standards.