practice crises it helps to cope

Global trade in animals and food will rise in the coming years clearly closer together the world even closer. This will cause pollution, but also dangerous pathogens can spread rapidly around the globe. The agri-food industry, but also the public sector see thereby put enormous challenges, technical and organizational solutions must be developed, data and exchanged mainly knowledge.

Around 75 experts from authorities, industry and research met on 26. and 27. March in Berlin to discuss at the conference IRIS (instruments for risk management of private and public organizations in the agricultural and food sector) current issues of risk and crisis communication in the health consumer and civil protection and to explore potential for optimization.

The IRIS symposium 2012 was jointly organized by the University of Bonn, the R&D platform GIQS eV based at the University of Bonn, the German Raiffeisen Association, the Federal Office for Agriculture and Food (BLE) and the Friedrich Loeffler Institute.

One of the great challenges of interdisciplinary ensures the containment of antibiotic resistant pathogens such as MRSA and EBSL represent. Their increasing spread observe human medicine, therefore, with concern. Many bacteria are not sickening, even dangerous, but for example, part of a healthy intestinal flora. Only the fact that some of them have developed resistance, is cause for concern. And this trend is due in large part to the careless use of antibiotics in the expert audience was unanimous. This is true in human medicine as well as in veterinary medicine, particularly in intensive livestock production.

Prof. Dr. Petra Gastmeier, Director of the Institute of Hygiene at the Charité in Berlin, presented a monitoring system for hospital infections MRSA example with KISS. Strict adherence to hygiene measures still proves to be the best protection against infection. But how much hygiene is standard? It was found that increase only by the documentation and communication of MRSA cases the will and the extent to preventive measures in hospitals. As a very simple indicator of the degree of hygiene called, for example, the amount of disinfectants used in intensive care units.

For Prof. Dr. Friedhelm Jaeger, Head of Unit for Animal Welfare at the Ministry for Climate Protection, Environment, Agriculture, Conservation and Consumer Protection of North Rhine-Westphalia, mainly includes vector-based diseases, ie those that require an intermediate host, the winners of the climate change. Mosquitoes, ticks and other insects that act as vectors of disease, always conquer new geographic areas. But tourism, the transport of pet animals and not least the global trade of livestock, ensure a spread of disease. He referred in this context to the project Safeguard, which deals with many aspects of animal disease prevention and zoonoses, ie diseases that can be transmitted from humans to animals and vice versa, is concerned. His conclusion: "We need not only a global early warning system, but a global early warning system."

we always used to go assuming that you need more data to make better forecasts and designing more preventive measures to so pointed Prof. Dr. Thomas Selhorst from the Friedrich Loeffler Institute points out that it is now meaningful to a primarily arriving structuring of existing data. "We sometimes have so much data that we can not interpret correctly. We must therefore ask once, what we do with the data that are available. "It ultimately come not only to the exchange of data, but mainly due to the exchange of knowledge. Another problem: Even if you wanted to evaluate the trade structures in Germany for only one species over a longer period, the available computing and storage capacities were not sufficient. Thus, suitable software solutions are becoming increasingly important.

The third thematic focus of the conference was the question of whether and how one can practice crises and what should be the ultimate goal and content of crisis exercises. It turned out that it is probably unrealistic to develop a single data exchange scheme for all crisis scenarios. , Was therefore important that will define precisely what should be practiced concretely to it then to derive the necessary conclusions. "Dr. Verena Schütz explained in this context for the German Raiffeisen Association, as extended communication structures in a crisis and what information should be at what time to whom to keep damage away from all those involved. "

In order to meet challenges in the areas of food safety, animal health, consumer protection and crisis prevention, the players in the agri-food sector are now more than ever dependent on the efficient data and information exchange for. The economy has learned from the crises of recent years. For example, new structures and databases have emerged that can provide important information about the health status of livestock and treatment measures for decision-makers from both the economy and in the authorities such as the Animal Health database, the HI-tier as well as the influenza database. However, there are still unresolved issues about privacy, protection of trade secrets and the administrative feasibility. It should be used more intensively in the future.

to develop public-private partnership exercises for crisis situations is also an object of Cluster Initiative Bonn.realis as Prof. Dr. Brigitte Petersen of the University of Bonn added. Here one was seeking, among other things, to develop appropriate technical and organizational innovations in the short term and deliver a training model for decision-makers and crisis teams from business and government

A conclusion of the conference: A situation can be mastered only if all use the same instruments and if the structures of cooperation between business, science and government to further consolidate. All participants agreed that only through a closely coordinated with each procedure between science, business and government that uses public-private partnership approach a promising crisis management can be established.

For the coming year, announced Dr. Martin Hamer of GIQS eV another IRIS Conference on; it will take place, however 2013 in Bonn. Soon a meeting will appear at, which can then be obtained from the Department of Preventive Health Management at the University of Bonn.

Source: Bonn / Berlin [GIQS eV]