Minimum Information Required to Annotate Food Safety Risk Assessment Models (MIRARAM)

Abstract In the last decades, mathematical models and model-based simulations became important elements not only in the area of risk assessment concerning microbiological and chemical hazards but also in modelling biological phenomena in general. Unfortunately, many of the developed models are published in non-standardized ways, which hinders efficient exchange, re-use and continuous improvement of models within the risk assessment domain. The establishment of guidelines for model annotation is an important pre-condition to overcome these obstacles. Additionally, implementation of annotation guidelines can improve transparency, quality control and even aid the clarification of intellectual property rights. Here, we address the question of "What is the minimum set of metadata that should be provided for a model in the risk assessment domain?". The proposed guideline focuses on food safety risk assessment models and is called "Minimum Information Required to Annotate food safety Risk Assessment Models (MIRARAM)". MIRARAM supports the model creator during the model documentation step and could also be used as a checklist by scientific journal editors or database curators. Software developers could take up MIRARAM and develop easy-to-use software tools or new features in existing programs that can help model creators to provide proposed model annotations in harmonized file formats. Based on experiences from similar guidelines in related scientific disciplines (like systems biology), it is expected that MIRARAM could contribute to the promotion of application and re-use of models as well as to implementing more standardized quality control in the food safety modelling domain

One Health Surveillance Codex: promoting the adoption of One Health solutions within and across European countries

Cross-sector communication, collaboration and knowledge exchange are still significant challenges for practical adoption of the One Health paradigm. To address these needs the “One Health Surveillance Codex” (OHS Codex) was established to provide a framework for the One Health community to continuously share practical solutions (e.g. tools, technical resources, guidance documents and experiences) applicable for national and international stakeholders from different One Health Surveillance sectors. Currently, the OHS Codex provides a number of resources that support the adoption of the OH paradigm in areas linked to the harmonization and interpretation of surveillance data. The OHS Codex framework comprises four high-level “action” principles, which respectively support collaboration, knowledge exchange, data interoperability, and dissemination. These principles match well with priority areas identified in the “Tripartite Guide to Addressing Zoonotic Diseases in Countries” published by WHO, FAO and OIE. Within each of the four principles, the OHS Codex provides a collection of useful resources as well as pointers to success stories for the application of these resources. As the OHS Codex is designed as an open-source community framework, it will continuously evolve and adapt to the needs of the OH community in the future