In order to drive forward the development of the One Health Surveillance Platform in a targeted manner, zoonotic diseases were systematically prioritised. The aim is to identify those diseases that are particularly well suited to an integrated analysis of anonymised health data from various sectors – such as human medicine, animal health and food. To this end, zoonotic diseases were assessed against several criteria, such as their epidemiological situation, the availability of data, existing surveillance systems and the technical feasibility of an integrated analysis. The focus was not solely on the clinical significance of the diseases, but particularly on how well existing data can be utilised for a cross-sectoral analysis.

The prioritisation was carried out in close collaboration with experts from various disciplines within AGES, including epidemiology, veterinary medicine, virology, microbiology and entomology. The results form an important basis for the further development of the One Health surveillance platform and help to define initial pilot applications.  The prioritised topics include, among others, foodborne zoonoses, vector-borne diseases and viruses with pandemic potential, such as influenza or the West Nile virus. These areas are intended to serve as the first use cases to gradually build up and test the technical and organisational implementation of the platform.

Following an unusual surge in West Nile virus (WNV) infections in Austria in 2024 – with 34 locally acquired human cases, particularly in the north-east of the country – exposure to WNV was investigated serologically across various regions.

The aim was to compare the prevalence of infection across regions affected to varying degrees using blood donors. In total, samples from Carinthia (2024) and from northern and southern Lower Austria (2025) were analysed. Testing was carried out using ELISA for WNV IgG antibodies and was supplemented by serum neutralisation tests (SNT) for confirmation.

The results show a low but detectable seroprevalence in all regions studied (approx. 1–2%). It is notable that no clear differences were observed between Carinthia – where no human or animal cases have been documented – and the more severely affected regions in the north-east.

These findings should be interpreted with caution. Possible confounding factors include a lack of information on the blood donors’ travel history, as well as differing survey periods (2024 vs. 2025), particularly with regard to antibody persistence.

Overall, the results underscore the importance of standardised study designs, the consideration of mobility, and continuous serological surveillance in order to better characterise patterns of exposure to WNV in Austria.

The national tick monitoring programme systematically records the spatial and temporal occurrence of ticks, as well as the spread of pathogens transmitted by them. The aim is to identify changes at an early stage and to establish a sound basis for assessing vector-borne health risks in Austria. The monitoring programme was established in 2024 as part of the OH SURVector project and significantly expanded the following year as part of RAISE. In addition to recording the native tick fauna, there is a particular focus on investigating relevant pathogens and potential shifts caused by climate change. The increased occurrence of exotic species such as the ‘giant tick’ (Hyalomma marginatum) is also taken into account.

In 2025, a total of 8,298 ticks were collected and identified, of which 3,838 were tested in the laboratory for various pathogens. The results show that a significant proportion of the ticks are infected with pathogens potentially harmful to humans:

*24% with Borrelia
burgdorferi*12.9% with Rickettsia spp
.*9.6% with Spiroplasma
ixodetis*7.8% with Anaplasma
phagocytophilum*4.8% with Neoehrlichia mikurensis*2.
4% with Borrelia miyamotoi*0.
1% with Francisella tularensis

In addition, 5 of the 9 giant ticks reported were tested for selected pathogens. 3 of these specimens tested positive for rickettsiae; no evidence of Crimean-Congo haemorrhagic fever virus was found.

A key objective is to develop a digital web tool that complements infection surveillance through participatory approaches. Via such a platform, members of the public could voluntarily and anonymously report health information – particularly regarding respiratory symptoms – in order to identify epidemiological trends at an early stage.

The current focus is on clarifying the specific benefits as well as the functional and content-related requirements within the Austrian context. To this end, international models of participatory surveillance – including established systems in other countries – are being researched, analysed and evaluated comparatively. In addition, a needs analysis is being carried out to assess whether, and in what form, such a web tool could offer added value to the existing surveillance system.

A key foundation is provided by Milestone 11 (“Technical and Legal Framework of population-based surveillance web tool”), which will be submitted in December. This defines the technical and legal framework for the planned web tool. The focus is on data protection requirements (in particular the GDPR) as well as on initial concepts regarding IT security, system architecture and governance structures.

The aim is to develop a secure, accessible and epidemiologically robust concept that enables low-threshold participation by the population whilst meeting high standards of data protection and data quality.

A structured communication and dissemination strategy ensures that project results are presented in a targeted manner and made accessible. The aim is to reach both the specialist community and decision-makers, as well as the interested public, and to clearly demonstrate the added value of integrated infection surveillance.

Various formats and channels are used, including the project website, social media, events and scientific publications. In parallel, an internal project newsletter is used to provide regular updates on progress, results and next steps, and to ensure a consistent information base.

The current focus is on the continuous development of communication measures to specifically enhance reach, clarity and impact.

In collaboration with the Tyrolean Provincial Health Directorate, Tyrol has been reintegrated into the clinical sentinel system. The retroactive integration of data was successfully completed on 18 March 2026 and is already available on the AGES website. With Tyrol’s reintegration, the overall system gains in stability and reliability.

As part of the RAISE project, a surveillance app has been developed to support the standardised analysis and processing of surveillance data. The application is already in active use and enables users to carry out epidemiological analyses efficiently, consistently and transparently.

A key component of this development is a Shiny-based dashboard, which was designed specifically for the Institute of Infectious Disease Epidemiology. It supports epidemiologists in the analysis and visualisation of notifiable infectious diseases and provides a quick overview of key indicators as well as current trends in infection patterns.

The further development of the app is continuously strengthened through professional exchange and international networking. For instance, the dashboard was presented by Andreas Wolfsbauer (MED/INF/DMOD) in a lightning talk at the ‘Shiny in Production’ conference in Newcastle in October 2025.

In addition to the presentation, the conference provided valuable technical insights, particularly on topics such as asynchronous processing in Shiny and the efficient use of large data sets by multiple concurrent users. The exchange with international experts and the positive feedback on the application provided concrete starting points for the further development of the Surveillance App.

The Surveillance App is an internal tool and is available exclusively to authorised users within the organisation.

Notes:
Shiny is an open-source framework for the R programming language used to create interactive web applications and dashboards.

A survey of health authorities across Austria was conducted to assess the current training needs regarding the management of notifiable infectious diseases and digital reporting systems. The results show a clear need for structured training programmes and standardised materials. These findings will be incorporated into future training courses to strengthen the quality of surveillance in the long term. Based on a nationwide survey, those infectious diseases have been identified for which health authorities see the greatest need for in-depth information and training. This will enable training courses to be developed in a more targeted manner in future and will strengthen the public health system’s ability to respond.

As part of the RAISE project, the Austrian reporting system for notifiable infectious diseases is being analysed with a view to further strengthening surveillance. The aim is to understand how infectious diseases are currently recorded, reported and analysed.

At the heart of the surveillance system is the Epidemiological Reporting System (EMS). Doctors, hospitals and laboratories are legally obliged to report certain infectious diseases. The data is collected and analysed in the EMS, enabling health authorities to rapidly exchange information on cases, outbreaks and trends and to take appropriate action.

In addition, Austria uses further surveillance tools, such as genomic analyses of pathogens, wastewater monitoring, hospital and health data, sentinel networks and mortality monitoring. The data is also transmitted to European systems, such as the ECDC, to enable comparisons of developments across Europe and the early identification of risks.

After almost a year of the project, the second on-site meeting of the RAISE core team on 3 November 2025 provided an opportunity to take stock and plan the next steps. The meeting was deliberately held on the international One Health Day , as RAISE follows the One Health concept.

RAISE consists of many very different work packages. Some of them are in constant dialogue with each other, but given the size of the project, regular updates are essential so that everyone is on the same level of knowledge and can understand what is happening in the project outside their own working group.
Therefore, all work packages gave a short presentation on what they have achieved in the first year, what their next steps are, what has gone well and where challenges have arisen. A few examples:

• The Austrian surveillance system for infectious diseases is comprehensively described in a work package - a key step towards better networking existing structures in the future.
• Health authorities and public health officers were asked about their training needs in the area of notifiable infectious diseases. Based on this, a nationwide training platform is to be created to strengthen the development of expertise in the long term.
• The project is also making progress in the area of digitalisation and data analysis: the first improved data displays are already in use and new collaborations are intended to facilitate the use of health data.
• Vector monitoring was expanded in 2025 - around 6,000 tick samples were analysed by AGES and the tests were expanded to include other pathogens. Seroprevalence tests for Francisella tularensis(tularaemia) are already being planned.
• Another milestone is the development of the One Health Surveillance Platform, which links data from human, animal and environmental areas across sectors.

This progress is accompanied by an active communication and dissemination strategy - a website, logo and newsletter have been established and further measures will follow. RAISE is a large-scale, highly interdisciplinary project - the administrative effort involved is correspondingly enormous . It is therefore all the more pleasing that the co-operation between the numerous specialist and support areas works extremely well. The dialogue with HaDEA is also constructive and solution-oriented, particularly with regard to the adjustments that have already been made to the original funding application.

Following the presentations, the resource planning and future prospects were discussed. The meeting showed once again how valuable personal dialogue is for an interdisciplinary project of this size.