H2020 One Health EJP Project: Promoting One Health in Europe through joint actions on foodborne zoonoses, antimicrobial resistance, and emerging microbiological hazards.

OUR SCIENTIFIC STRATEGY To better include environmental health and social sciences in future collaborations, the Consortium has updated its 2018 Strategic Research Agenda, which outlined the focus and scope of the EJP’s scientific strategy, and published a Strategic Research and Innovation Agenda (SRIA) in 2022. TRAINING THE NEXT GENERATION OF ONE HEALTH SCIENTISTS The comprehensive training and education program aimed to develop future One Health leaders, drawing on the Consortium’s expertise and providing PhD students and early career researchers (ECRs) with access to networks and learning from experts in their respective fields. The EJP One Health co-funded 17 PhD projects that collectively produced 35 peer-reviewed publications and disseminated project outcomes at ~104 national and international conferences. Educational activities brought together students, ECRs, and leading One Health experts through Summer Schools, Continuing Professional Development modules, Short-Term Missions, webinars, and workshops, many of which were fully funded by the EJP One Health. FROM SCIENCE TO POLICY Stakeholder engagement was a fundamental aspect of the EJP One Health project. ECDC, EFSA, EEA, FAO, WHO, WOAH, and EMA participated in the Stakeholder Committee to ensure that the outputs contributed to addressing the challenges of the One Health initiative in the EU, as highlighted in the biannual meetings. The Consortium ensured that all EJP scientific outputs reached the most appropriate audiences through its targeted dissemination activities (workshops, thematic reports, conferences, etc.) to strengthen the application of science to policy. As a result, EJP stakeholders have developed strong collaborative relationships with many of the EJP projects.

RESULTS OF INTEGRATIVE ACTIVITIES Six joint integrative projects funded by One Health EJP have served as a basis for increasing cooperation by promoting harmonized approaches to strengthen scientific capacity. For example, MATRIX developed the OH-EpiCap tool to assess the One Health capacities and capabilities of existing surveillance systems. OH-HARMONY CAP worked on harmonized protocols for detecting foodborne pathogens and antimicrobial resistance, while CARE focused on the collection of reference strains with a strain selection tool to ensure quality resources. COVRIN, initiated in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, worked on harmonizing SARS-CoV-2 risk assessment and surveillance. ORION created a One Health glossary with harmonized surveillance terminology, and its work was integrated into the WHO/FAO/OIE SISOT. Finally, COHESIVE established a joint risk analysis system for zoonoses and a review of the economic analysis of foodborne zoonoses. The One Health EJP simulation exercise (SimEx) was an additional activity designed to test the capacity, capability, and interoperability of public health, animal health, and food safety stakeholders to work together in dealing with a simulated foodborne disease outbreak scenario.

RESULTS OF SCIENTIFIC RESEARCH ACTIVITIES The 23 JRPs worked on numerous One Health problems in the following areas: cell-free extracellular DNA, food purchase data, plasmids, toxins, antibiotic resistance (carbapenem, colistin, etc.), detection and surveillance technologies (modeling, Hi-C sequencing, etc.), super spreaders, syndromic surveillance, etc. JRPs have studied a wide range of pathogens, including bacteria (Acinetobacter, Brucella, Campylobacter, E. coli, Klebsiella, Ochrobactrum, Salmonella, VTEC), viruses (Hepatitis E), and parasites (Cryptosporidium, Echinococcus, Giardia, Toxoplasma). The JRP outputs cover the following areas: - Surveillance: sampling techniques, surveillance assessment, syndromic surveillance and recommendations - Laboratory techniques: metagenomics, bioinformatics, microarrays, in situ/point-of-incidence diagnostic methods (loop-mediated isothermal amplification, Oxford Nanopore technology, etc.), ELISA and serological tests, mass spectrophotometry - Databases, data analysis, data interpretation and reference material: samples and strains, genomic sequences, MALDI-ToF - Intersectoral communication: source attribution, biosecurity education and training resources - Pathogen-specific detection methods: Toxoplasma gondii, Klebsiella pneumonia, Cryptosporidium and Giardia, Echinococcus multilocularis/granulosus, Brucella - Action (prevention, treatment, response): prebiotics and probiotics, biosecurity measures SUSTAINABILITY AT YOUR CENTRE The JRP The Health Department has worked toward sustainability by advancing cutting-edge products and developing long-term approaches to address microbiological threats to public health.

The SRIA highlights the One Health EJP results and provides a sustainability plan with recommended actions to maintain its key outcomes. To ensure the sustainability of the scientific results, the One Health EJP has generated a comprehensive open-access knowledge inventory, available on its website. Dissemination of the results has involved effective communication with national and international authorities to share results and products for future use. The Med-Vet-Net Partnership, which includes 18 One Health EJP partners, will ensure the long-term sustainability of the results and continue to train researchers in the One Health program.