O'Brien Declan, Scudamore Jim, Charlier Johannes, Delavergne Morgane
International Federation for Animal Health Europe, Avenue de Tervueren 168, box 8, 1150, Brussels, Belgium.
Institute of Infection and Global Health, University of Liverpool, Liverpool, UK.
BMC Vet Res. 2017 Jan 3;13(1):1. doi: 10.1186/s12917-016-0931-1.
The public and private sector in the EU spend around €800 million per year on animal health and welfare related research. An objective process to identify critical gaps in knowledge and available control tools should aid the prioritisation of research in order to speed up the development of new or improved diagnostics, vaccines and pharmaceuticals and reduce the burden of animal diseases.
Here, we describe the construction of a database based on expert consultation for 52 infectious diseases of animals.
For each disease, an expert group produced a disease and product analysis document that formed the basis for gap analysis and prioritisation. The prioritisation model was based on a closed scoring system, employing identical weights for six evaluation criteria (disease knowledge; impact on animal health and welfare; impact on public health; impact on wider society; impact on trade; control tools). The diseases were classified into three groups: epizootic diseases, food-producing animal complexes or zoonotic diseases.
The highly ranked diseases in the prioritisation model comprised mostly zoonotic and epizootic diseases with important gaps identified in vaccine development and pharmaceuticals, respectively. The most important outcome is the identification of key research needs by disease. The rankings and research needs by disease are provided on a public website ( www.discontools.eu ) which is currently being updated based on new expert consultations.
As such, it can become a reference point for funders of research including the European Commission, member states, foundations, trusts along with private industry to prioritise research. This will deliver benefits in terms of animal health and welfare but also public health, societal benefits and a safe and secure food supply.
欧盟的公共和私营部门每年在动物健康与福利相关研究上的支出约为8亿欧元。一个用于识别知识关键差距和现有控制工具的客观流程应有助于研究的优先排序，以加速新型或改进型诊断方法、疫苗和药物的开发，并减轻动物疾病负担。
在此，我们描述了一个基于专家咨询构建的针对52种动物传染病的数据库。
对于每种疾病，一个专家组编制了一份疾病与产品分析文件，该文件构成了差距分析和优先排序的基础。优先排序模型基于一个封闭评分系统，对六个评估标准（疾病知识；对动物健康与福利的影响；对公共卫生的影响；对更广泛社会的影响；对贸易的影响；控制工具）采用相同权重。这些疾病被分为三组：流行性疾病、食用动物群体疾病或人畜共患病。
优先排序模型中排名靠前的疾病大多为人畜共患病和流行性疾病，分别在疫苗开发和药物方面发现了重要差距。最重要的成果是按疾病确定了关键研究需求。按疾病的排名和研究需求在一个公共网站（www.discontools.eu）上提供，该网站目前正在根据新的专家咨询进行更新。
因此，它可以成为包括欧盟委员会、成员国、基金会、信托机构以及私营企业在内的研究资助者确定研究优先顺序的参考点。这将在动物健康与福利方面带来益处，同时也有利于公共卫生、社会效益以及安全可靠的食品供应。
