Workshop on Strengthening Preparedness and Response to Biological Threats in Europe
23–25 March 2026 | WOAH Headquarters, Paris, France
The workshop on Strengthening Preparedness and Response to Biological Threats in Europe was held from 23 to 25 March 2026 at WOAH Headquarters in Paris. The event, kindly funded by the European Union, brought together 62 participants, including WOAH Delegates and appointed representatives from 30 countries across Europe and neighbouring regions, alongside expert speakers from law enforcement, public health, security, and international organisations, including the FBI, Europol, INTERPOL, ANSES, the European External Action Service, EuFMD, the International Poultry Council, and the Portuguese Army.
Over three days, participants examined the full spectrum of biological threat management through six thematic sessions covering the threat landscape in Europe, surveillance and early detection, emergency preparedness, emergency response and recovery, risk and crisis management communication, and emerging technologies. Real-world case studies drawn from recent outbreaks of foot-and-mouth disease, African swine fever, and highly pathogenic avian influenza provided practical grounding for discussions on multi-agency coordination, laboratory attribution, and the management of misinformation and disinformation.
The workshop also featured working group sessions in which participants developed national questionnaire responses, regional action plans, and simulation exercise proposals, identifying five shared priorities for the region: strengthening inter-agency coordination mechanisms, updating contingency plans to address the full biological threat spectrum, improving laboratory attribution capacity, scaling up cross-border simulation exercises, and developing coordinated crisis communication strategies.
WOAH, together with DG SANTE of the European Commission, committed to reviewing the proposals put forward and working with partners to advance concrete follow-up actions in the months ahead. This workshop fulfilled a commitment made at the Global Conference on Biological Threat Reduction held in Geneva in 2025.
Meeting Report
| Monday, 23 March 2026; 14.00-18.00 CET |
||
| Time | Item | Speaker |
| 13:00 – 14:00 | Registration | |
| 14:00 – 14:15 | Official Welcome | Emmanuelle Soubeyran, WOAH
Bernard Van Goethem, DG SANTE, European Commission (virtual presentation) |
| 14:15 – 14:30 | Technical Team Introduction, housekeeping, objectives | Daniel Donachie, WOAH
Lajos Bognar, WOAH |
| Session 1 – The Threat Landscape in Europe Chair: Lajos Bognar | ||
| 14:30 – 14:45 | Risk analysis to assess hazards and threats | Joana Pita, Portuguese Army |
| 14:45 – 15:00 | Case study: African swine fever in Poland | Katarzyna Wawrzak, General Veterinary Inspectorate, Poland
|
| 15:00 – 15:15 | EU CBRN Security policy and activities | Wiktor Wojtas, Directorate-General Migration & Home Affairs, European Commission
|
| 15:15 – 15:30 | Smuggling of animals and animal products | Corettie Medjo-byabot, WOAH |
| 15:30 – 16:00 | Open Discussion | All |
| 16:00 – 16:30 | Group Photo & Refreshment Break | |
| Session 2 – Surveillance and Early Detection in Biological Threat Reduction Chair: Vasili Basiladze | ||
| 16:30 – 16:45 | Triggers and indicators of a suspicious biological event | Stephen Goldsmith, FBI |
| 16:45 – 17:00 | Initial investigation of a suspicious biological event – case study of African swine fever in Spain | Emilio García Muro, Spanish Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries, and Food |
| 17:00 – 17:15 | Joint threat assessments between health and security | João Simões, Europol (virtual presentation) |
| 17:15 – 17:30 | Laboratory confirmation and attribution of biological threats | Guillaume Girault, ANSES, France |
| 17:30 – 17:45 | From signal to alert – information sharing across agencies | Barbara Hoffmann, Federal Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Regional Identity, Germany (virtual presentation)
|
| 17:30–18:00 | Discussion | All |
| 18:00 | Close of Day 1
Simona Forcella, DG SANTE, European Commission Alexandre Fediaevsky, WOAH |
|
| Tuesday, 24 March 2026
09:00–18:00 CET |
||
| Time | Item | Speaker |
| Session 3 – Emergency Preparedness for Biological Threats Chair: Alexandre Fediaevsky | ||
| 09:00 – 09:15 | Multi-agency contingency planning | Madeleine Haal Gertzell, Swedish Board of Agriculture |
| 09:15 – 9:30 | Integration of Veterinary Services into CBRN action plans | Anne-Sophie Lequarre, EU CBRN CoE |
| 09:30 – 09:50 | Exercise Phoenix, an international agro-terrorism simulation exercise | Daniel Donachie, WOAH
Zorana Mehmedbasic, EuFMD |
| 09:50 – 10:05 | WOAH and INTERPOL Tackling Animal Agro-Crime : A roadmap towards collaboration between Veterinary Services and Law Enforcement | Fanny Ewan, INTERPOL (virtual presentation) |
| 10:05 – 10:30 | Open discussion | All |
| 10:30-11:00 | Refreshment Break | |
| Session 4 – Emergency Response and Recovery Chair: Daniel Donachie | ||
| 11:00 – 11:15 | Case study: Foot-and-mouth disease (FMD) | Szabolcs Pásztor, Ministry of Agriculture, Hungary
|
| 11:15-11:30 | Veterinary Services and Military collaboration in emergency response – Italy and ASF | Ugo Della Marta, Ministry of Health
Department for One Health Directorate General for Hygiene and Food Safety Italy |
| 11:30 – 11:45 | HPAI in Fur Animals: A Public Health Response Perspective | Erika Lindh, Finnish Institute for Health and Welfare |
| 11:45 – 12:00 | Recovery from FMD | Katharina Kluge, Federal Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Regional Identity, Germany (virtual presentation) |
| 12:00 – 12:15 | After-action reviews and continuous improvement | Martin Chudý, State Veterinary and Food Administration of Slovak Republic |
| 12:15 – 12:30 | Open discussion | All |
| 12:30 – 13:30 | Lunch Break | |
| 13:30–14:30 | Workshops:
Groups 1 and 2 – Tackling Agro-Crime (World Café); |
|
| 14:40–15:40 | Workshops:
Group 3 and 4 – Biological Threat Simulation Exercises; |
|
| 15:40–16:00 | Refreshment break | |
| 16:00–16:30 | Workshop feedback session | |
| Session 5 – Risk and Crisis Management Communication Chair: Fernando de Abreu | ||
| 16:30 – 16:45 | WOAH Guidelines on misinformation and disinformation | Madison Wimmers, WOAH |
| 16:45 – 17:00 | Disinformation and misinformation in biological threats | Dorka Takacsy, European External Action Service (EEAS) |
| 17:00 – 17:30 | Media, and parliamentary engagement in emergency management | Frederic Vincent, DG SANTE, European Commission |
| 17:30 -17:45 | Joint communications with producers | Nicolo Cinotti, International Poultry Council |
| 17:45–18:00 | Open Discussion | All |
| 18:00 | Close of Day 2
Simona Forcella, DG SANTE, European Commission Alexandre Fediaevsky, WOAH |
|
| 18:00 – 19:00 | Cocktail Reception (Salon Ramon, WOAH HQ) | |
| Wednesday, 25 March 2026
09:00–17:00 CET |
||
| Time | Item | Title |
| Session 6 – Emerging Technologies: Threats and Opportunities Chair: Fernando de Abreu | ||
| 09:00 – 09:15 | Unmanned aerial vehicles | Joana Pita, Portuguese Army |
| 09:15 – 09:30 | Cyberthreats and cyberbiosecurity | Pascaline Bossard, Dianetis |
| 09:30 – 09:45 | Dual use research of concern oversight | Nils Braun, General Secretariat for Defence and National Security, France |
| 9:45 – 10:00 | Vaccine banks | Emmanuelle Royer
Boehringer Ingelheim/Health for Animals |
| 10:00 – 10:30 | Open discussion | All |
| 10:30–10:55 | Refreshment Break | |
| 11:00–12:30 | Workshops: Groups 1 and 2 – Disinformation/Misinformation (Salon Vittoz) Groups 3 and 4 – Regional Action Plan (Salon Ramon) |
|
| 12:30–13:30 | Lunch Break | |
| 13:30–15:00 | Workshops: Groups 3 and 4 – Regional Action Plan (Salon Ramon) Group 1 and 2 – Disinformation/Misinformation (Salon Vittoz) |
|
| 15:00–15:30 | Refreshment Break | |
| 15:30–17:00 | Presentation of Regional Action Plans and Simulation Exercise Proposals |
|
| 17:00 | Close of Meeting | Lajos Bognar, WOAH
Baba Soumaré, WOAH |
