Crisis preparedness training programmes are substantial for the effective management of contingency plans. Rift Valley Fever (RVF) was chosen as the vector transmitted zoonosis for a crisis preparedness exercise co-organised in 2021 by the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) and the Istituto Zooprofilattico Sperimentale dell’Abruzzo e del Molise “G. Caporale” (IZS-Teramo). The online table-top simulation exercise was planned to strengthen the network of Mediterranean countries on rapid risk assessment, risk/crisis management and risk communication during a human/animal health crisis, adopting the ‘One Health’ approach. Italy, Spain, Portugal, France, Greece, Albania, Croatia, Montenegro and Turkey were the beneficiary countries, while European Commission (EC), European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC), World Health Organisation (WHO), World Organisation for Animal Health (WOAH) and Food and Agricultural Organisation (FAO) were the designated observers who were actively involved along the entire capacity building process. The simulation exercise was based on a fictional case study in which the zoonotic mosquito-borne disease, not currently present in Europe, was accidentally introduced into the European Union via the accidental transfer of infected vectors from a RVF-endemic country. The training activity was positively assessed by the participants and useful suggestions were given to address further future similar initiatives.

The advent of “omics” is transforming Biological Sciences. Next Generation Sequencing (NGS) in Food Safety represents a challenge for Clinical Microbiology and Public Health. A new professional profile which combines different domains represents a strategic lever to increase competitiveness in this field. The Erasmus+ project Learning Genomics for Food Safety(LEGO) is aimed at defining an innovative profile, the Food Microbial Bioinformatician (FMB), a professional able to use NGS technologies applied to the analysis of food-borne pathogens. FMB bridges diverse professional areas within processes integrating Genomics, Computer Science, Statistics and Microbiology. It mixes hard/technical and soft skills and competencies to be applied in different sectors. LEGO is carried out by a European consortium (UH, UTP,UNIVAQ, AINIA, UdAnet), led by IZSAM.Desk and in-field research activities have been conducted at European level to define the FMB profile, leveraging on: national/international professional classification; the 4C model, clustering the profile in 4 areas of hard and soft skills(primary - cognitive, individual, social; organisational interpersonal behaviours). The new profile development process is made of three key phaces. First of all, a questionnaire has been delivered to almost 50 experts within the Consortium to set the draft scheme concerning FMB roles, activities and competences. Secondly, a broad range of relevant stakeholders have beeninvolved for deepening relevance, frequency and complexity of each professional dimension. Finally, the collected information guided the Consortium through the validation of the new profile at the European level. The definition of a comprehensive, standard FMB profileallows to: analyse existing curricula and training gaps; ground customised modular training programmes to fill in the gaps; increase Food Safety, promoting continuous training in a sector strongly influenced by the evolution of technology. Key messages Professional excellence bridging different areas (both scientific and technical). Health System innovation for wellbeing and professional development of carrier pathways and mobility.

In July 2021, the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) jointly devised, developed and delivered an online workshop on animal health crisis preparedness with IZSAM, focusing on Rift Valley fever (RVF). The overall training objective was to improve incident response collaboration between animal and public health authorities from multiple countries, using a ‘One Health’ approach. The 4 specific exercise learning objectives were to test and improve skills in: (a) outbreak investigation; (b) prevention of RVF outbreaks; (c) control of RVF outbreaks; (d) identifying and communicating to affected stakeholders about RVF outbreaks. Workshop content was jointly developed by EFSA, IZSAM and Instinctif Partners, with input from ECDC, FAO, OIE, WHO and EC DG SANTE. Twenty‐seven participants from 6 EU Member States (MSs) and 3 EU candidate countries attended the training, as well as 12 observers from 3 EU MSs and 3 international organisations. Plenary and working group activities extended across 3 days, preceded by the availability of an online RVF eLearning package developed by IZSAM. During the morning of Day One, 8 presentations were provided on various topics: (a) ‘One Health’; (b) how EFSA and ECDC respond in urgent situations such as cross‐border threats of zoonotic disease emergences; (c) best practices in emergency risk communication; (d) examples of national‐level preparedness activities; (e) lessons learned from FAO RVF missions in Mauritania. From the afternoon of Day One to the morning of Day Three, a desktop discussion addressed the national and EU‐level responses that would ensue if RVF entered the EU, based on a fictional scenario. An additional presentation on Day Three reported on a recent RVF simulation exercise in Bulgaria. Concluding the event, subject matter experts provided interactive training on: (a) emergency response capacity building; (b) ‘One Health’; (c) risk communication. The objectives of the event were achieved, based on recorded outcomes and feedback provided by participants in a series of online evaluation surveys. In addition, discussions during the event generated several practical recommendations for future enhancements and improvements.