The Health Threat Unit of the
Directorate-General for Health and Consumer Protection
The Directorate-General for Health and Food Safety (DG SANTE), until 2014 known as the Directorate-General for Health and Consumers (DG SANCO), is a directorate-general of the European Commission. The DG is responsible for the implementation of E ...
(
European Commission
The European Commission (EC) is the executive of the European Union (EU). It operates as a cabinet government, with 27 members of the Commission (informally known as "Commissioners") headed by a President. It includes an administrative body o ...
), is responsible for terrorism surveillance and early warning of
biological,
chemical
A chemical substance is a form of matter having constant chemical composition and characteristic properties. Some references add that chemical substance cannot be separated into its constituent elements by physical separation methods, i.e., wi ...
, and
radiological threats within the
European Union
The European Union (EU) is a supranational political and economic union of member states that are located primarily in Europe. The union has a total area of and an estimated total population of about 447million. The EU has often been des ...
. The Health Threat Unit runs the ''Rapid Alert System'', which conducts surveillance on communicable diseases and diseases caused by acts of
bioterrorism
Bioterrorism is terrorism involving the intentional release or dissemination of biological agents. These agents are bacteria, viruses, insects, fungi, and/or toxins, and may be in a naturally occurring or a human-modified form, in much the same ...
. The surveillance data are coordinated and evaluated by the ''Health Emergency Operations Facility''. Health threat information and warnings are sent to the member states by the Communication and Crisis Center (''BICHAT'') and the Security Office in
Brussels
Brussels (french: Bruxelles or ; nl, Brussel ), officially the Brussels-Capital Region (All text and all but one graphic show the English name as Brussels-Capital Region.) (french: link=no, RĂ©gion de Bruxelles-Capitale; nl, link=no, Bruss ...
,
Belgium
Belgium, ; french: Belgique ; german: Belgien officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. The country is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeast, France to th ...
.
Criteria for notification
The BICHAT sends a warning to the EU member states, within one hour of receiving a warning, when there is:
* Suspicion of danger
* Internationally relevant events; need for a complex response
* Need for coordination (investigative and control actions)
* Suspicion of deliberate action of a terrorist organization
* Risk of trans-frontier spread of the agent/event
* Need for assistance from other countries
Other responsibilities
Besides bioterrorism, the Health Threat Unit also has responsibility for other reportable diseases:
* Diseases preventable by vaccination
*
Sexually transmitted disease
Sexually transmitted infections (STIs), also referred to as sexually transmitted diseases (STDs) and the older term venereal diseases, are infections that are spread by sexual activity, especially vaginal intercourse, anal sex, and oral ...
s
*
Viral hepatitis
Viral hepatitis is liver inflammation due to a viral infection. It may present in acute form as a recent infection with relatively rapid onset, or in chronic form.
The most common causes of viral hepatitis are the five unrelated hepatotropic v ...
*
Food
Food is any substance consumed by an organism for nutritional support. Food is usually of plant, animal, or fungal origin, and contains essential nutrients, such as carbohydrates, fats, proteins, vitamins, or minerals. The substance is inge ...
- and
water-borne disease
Waterborne diseases are conditions (meaning adverse effects on human health, such as death, disability, illness or disorders) caused by pathogenic micro-organisms that are transmitted in water. These diseases can be spread while bathing, washing ...
s and diseases of environmental origin
*
Air-borne diseases
*
Zoonotic disease
A zoonosis (; plural zoonoses) or zoonotic disease is an infectious disease of humans caused by a pathogen (an infectious agent, such as a bacterium, virus, parasite or prion) that has jumped from a non-human (usually a vertebrate) to a human. ...
s
* Diseases transmitted by non-conventional agents
* Serious imported diseases
* Special Health Issues (
nosocomial infection
A hospital-acquired infection, also known as a nosocomial infection (from the Greek , meaning "hospital"), is an infection that is acquired in a hospital or other health care facility. To emphasize both hospital and nonhospital settings, it is ...
s;
antimicrobial resistance
Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) occurs when microbes evolve mechanisms that protect them from the effects of antimicrobials. All classes of microbes can evolve resistance. Fungi evolve antifungal resistance. Viruses evolve antiviral resistance. ...
)
Working groups
Within the Health Threat Unit, there are seven working groups responsible for various aspects of bio-defense:
* Preparedness and response planning
* Chemical threats
* Prudent use of antimicrobial agents in human medicine
* Incident investigation and sampling
* Medicinal products
* Co-operation between laboratories
*
Risk communication
See also
*
Global Health Security Initiative
The Global Health Security Initiative (GHSI) is an informal international partnership among countries in order to exchange information and coordinate practices for confronting new threats and risks to global health. It was formed to respond to th ...
(GHSI)
*
Council of Europe Convention on the Prevention of Terrorism The Council of Europe Convention on the Prevention of Terrorism 2005 (CECPT) is a regional multilateral treaty negotiated under the auspices of the Council of Europe. It was concluded in Warsaw on 16 May 2005. Most notable amongst its provisions ar ...
*
European BioSafety Association The European BioSafety Association (EBSA) is a non-profit organization, founded in June 1996, which provides a forum to its members to discuss and debate issues of concern and to represent those working in the field of biosafety and associated activ ...
(EBSA)
*
European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control
The European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) is an agency of the European Union (EU) whose mission is to strengthen Europe's defences against infectious diseases. It covers a wide spectrum of activities, such as: surveillance, e ...
(ECDC)
*
European program for intervention epidemiology training The European Programme for Intervention Epidemiology Training (EPIET) Fellowship provides training and practical experience in intervention epidemiology at the national centres for surveillance and control of communicable diseases in the European Un ...
(EPIET)
*
Health-EU portal
Health-EU portal is an official web portal of the Health and Consumers Directorate-General that facilities the access of public-related health information to European Union citizens.
The main objective of this thematic Portal is to provide Euro ...
*
Health Emergency Preparedness and Response Authority
The Health Emergency Preparedness and Response Authority (HERA) is a directorate-general of the European Commission created to prepare the EU for a future pandemic and to avoid the mistakes made during the EU's response to the COVID-19 pandemic. ...
(HERA)
Sources
Threats to health(European Union)
External links
Public Health EU Portalthe official public health portal of the European Union
{{Bioterrorism
Civil Service of the European Union
European medical and health organizations
Public health organizations
Health and the European Union