ZooNotify - New online portal provides data on the occurrence of zoonotic agents and their antimicrobial resistances along the food chain in Germany

Zoonoses data from the food chain in Germany are primarily available in reports. This

results in limited accessibility and re-usability of this data in science and risk
assessment. With ZooNotify, the Federal Institute for Risk Assessment and the Federal
Ministry of Food and Agriculture aim at making existing zoonoses data findable,
accessible, interoperable and re-usable (FAIR).
The ZooNotify data base comprises data from 2012 to 2021 collected under the
framework of the zoonoses monitoring and the Salmonella control programmes in
poultry, according to Directive 2003/99/EC and Regulation (EC) No 2160/2003,
respectively. Currently, aggregated antimicrobial resistance data for Germany are
available, which will be complemented with non-aggregated data on resistance and
occurrence soon.
Users can filter the ZooNotify data base according to individual interests. ZooNotify
further offers different pre-defined graphs for easy and quick data visualization. For
example, “temporal trend graphs” visualizing the development of resistance rates of
microbiological isolates to antimicrobial substances over time. Additionally, the filtered
data and associated metadata can be downloaded in csv-format. ZooNotify also
provides explanations for the available graphs and the methods for resistance testing as
well as isolate collection and characterization. Moreover, ZooNotify supplies an
application programming interface in JSON-format for improved interoperability.
Overall, ZooNotify offers a digital solution to integrate data about zoonotic agents and
their antimicrobial resistance along the food chain. The continuous development of
functionalities and data expansion of ZooNotify supports the EU “open data” strategy
and forms an important basis for improved risk assessment and animal and consumer
health protection.