Menu Close
Close
Join Us
COST ACTION ONWARD

Objectives

The primary challenge addressed by this initiative is the establishment of a comprehensive, interdisciplinary network to tackle zoonotic hepatitis E virus infections through an One Health approach. This network aims to foster collaboration across human and animal health sectors, bridging knowledge gaps, and strengthening the capacity to prevent, detect, and control zoonotic hepevirus transmission.

 

 

Research Objectives

Research Objectives focus on enhancing scientific and operational capabilities:

  1. Adopting a One Health approach to HEV and RHEV, improving the capacity of European countries to identify and characterize zoonotic hepeviruses in humans, animals, and food matrix, and promoting knowledge transfer of cost-effective diagnostic and surveillance methods to stakeholders.
  2. Facilitating data sharing and integration, encompassing clinical and epidemiological information, through the establishment of secure and accessible databases to enhance the analysis and interpretation of complex epidemiological patterns.
  3. Standardizing screening and surveillance, by developing harmonized protocols and providing technical support and training to ensure consistent implementation across European laboratories and field studies.
  4. Stimulating clinical research, by supporting the design and execution of clinical trials and interventional studies, organizing workshops on trial methodology, and facilitating collaborations among researchers, innovative companies, and stakeholders.
  5. Promoting control measures at farm and food chain levels, including the development of biosecurity practices, contamination prevention strategies, and HEV inactivation protocols suitable for use in meat processing facilities.
  6. Engaging policy-makers and industry stakeholders, ensuring that feedback on challenges and opportunities in zoonotic HEV control informs practical interventions through workshops, forums, and collaborative sessions.
  7. Establishing complementary collaboration with European agencies, such as WHO, ECDC, FAO, and EFSA, to enhance surveillance and control of zoonotic hepeviruses, develop guidelines for best practice sampling and monitoring, and provide continuous training.

 

Capacity Building Objectives

Capacity Building Objectives aim to strengthen knowledge, skills, and awareness across Europe:

  1. Creating a European framework for scientific exchange, emphasizing inclusion of Young Researchers and Innovators (YRIs), gender balance, and disciplinary equity while supporting cooperative projects.
  2. Developing an open-access platform for harmonized serological and molecular diagnostic protocols, alongside training opportunities to ensure consistent use across participating countries.
  3. Providing updated clinical and veterinary recommendations, improving diagnosis, management, and control of zoonotic HEV through guideline dissemination and professional training.
  4. Promoting innovative community-based surveillance, piloting non-canonical sampling methods such as wastewater analysis in collaboration with local stakeholders.
  5. Raising public and policy-maker awareness of HEV and RHEV risks at the human-animal interface, establishing communication strategies to improve prevention and control efforts.
  6. Facilitating development opportunities for YRIs, providing inclusive training in technical innovation, integrative bioinformatics, and study design to build expertise in HEV and RHEV research.
  7. Organizing an international hepevirus conference to foster global knowledge exchange and establishing a biennial communication strategy to maintain momentum and collaboration across the network.

Together, these objectives establish a strategic, integrated framework for enhancing Europe’s capacity to understand, prevent, and control zoonotic HEV infections through a One Health approach, while fostering long-term collaboration between scientists, clinicians, industry, and policy-makers.