Animal Disease Information System (ADIS)

The EU Animal Diseases Information System (ADIS) is designed to register and document the evolution of the situation of important infectious animal diseases as identified by the categorisation process performed in the framework of the Animal Health Law (AHL).

ADIS provides for uniform conditions for the implementation of Union notification and reporting as provided by Regulation (EU) 2020/2002.

It is a disease management tool that ensures immediate notification of alert messages as well as detailed information about outbreaks of the most relevant animal diseases in the countries that are connected to the application.

This permits immediate access to information about contagious animal disease outbreaks and ensures implementation of early warning which enables for a prompt response for controlling the epidemiological situation.

This has a direct impact on trade of live animals and their products both for the internal market as well as for international trade with third countries.

While ADIS is a system not directly related with food safety, it has an impact on public health in relation to all zoonotic diseases within its scope.

ADIS has been developed in close collaboration with the World Organisation for Animal Health (WOAH), founded as OIE, in order to facilitate data exchange between ADIS and WAHIS (World Animal Health Information System).

This feature is partially implemented, a further release of ADIS will allow for two way exchange of information with submission of outbreaks to WAHIS.

The operational objective of the system is to ensure rapid exchange of Union Notification and Union Reporting, containing information between the competent authorities responsible for animal health in each EU country and the Commission on outbreaks of selected contagious animal diseases.

The system allows the coordination and monitoring of outbreaks of contagious animal diseases and enables EU countries and Commission services to take immediate measures to prevent the spread of the diseases in question.

ADIS is also finalising its interoperability with WAHIS to allow for one single entry point for ADIS users which will allow fulfilling EU legal requirements for disease notification and WOAH international standards related to early warning (immediate notifications and follow-up reports). See more information on the link between WAHIS and ADIS

• Regulation (EU) 2016/429 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 9 March 2016 on transmissible animal diseases and amending and repealing certain acts in the area of animal health (‘Animal Health Law’) (Text with EEA relevance), (OJ L 84, 31.3.2016, p. 1).
• Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2020/2002 of 7 December 2020 laying down rules for the application of Regulation (EU) 2016/429 of the European Parliament and of the Council with regard to Union notification and Union reporting of listed diseases, to formats and procedures for submission and reporting of Union surveillance programmes and of eradication programmes and for application for recognition of disease-free status, and to the computerised information system (OJ L 412, 8.12.2020, p. 1)
• Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) 2020/689 of 17 December 2019 supplementing Regulation (EU) 2016/429 of the European Parliament and of the Council as regards rules for surveillance, eradication, programmes, and disease-free status for certain listed and emerging diseases (Text with EEA relevance) (Text with EEA relevance), (OJ L 174, 3.6.2020, p. 211).
• Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2018/1882 of 3 December 2018 on the application of certain disease prevention and control rules to categories of listed diseases and establishing a list of species and groups of species posing a considerable risk for the spread of those listed diseases (Text with EEA relevance), (OJ L 308, 4.12.2018, p. 21).
• Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2019/1715 of 30 September 2019 laying down rules for the functioning of the information management system for official controls and its system components (the IMSOC Regulation) (Text with EEA relevance), (OJ L 261, 14.10.2019, p. 37).

The EU countries and the other countries connected to the application are responsible for supplying ADIS with the necessary information. Two types of outbreak exist:

• ‘primary outbreak’ means an outbreak not epidemiologically linked with a previous outbreak in the same notification and reporting region of a Member State or the first outbreak in a different notification and reporting region of the same Member State. For this kind of outbreak all members need to be immediately informed. Regulation (EU) 2020/2002 provides that the notification must be sent within 24 hours of confirmation of the outbreak. 

  The notification can be inserted directly into the ADIS system via the web interface or sent in a structured manner to the Commission and the information is automatically inserted into the ADIS system (this automatic feature is still under development). Once a primary outbreak is entered into the system, an e-mail is sent to all the countries connected to the application.

• ‘secondary outbreak’ means an outbreak other than a primary outbreak, the notification must be sent at least on the first working day of each week.

A weekly (every Friday) e-mail message is sent to all the ADIS members summarising all primary and secondary outbreaks that have been entered into the system.

The designated competent authorities in an EU country enters information on outbreaks into the ADIS. This information is automatically sent to all ADIS users and the Commission.

The Commission correlates data and transmits the information on primaries and secondary outbreaks to the veterinary headquarters of the EU countries every week.

The veterinary authorities in EU countries assess the risk. The risk management is shared between EU Member States and Commission services. The action of the Commission consists in the adoption of Decisions eventually through the Committee procedure (Standing Committee on Plants, Animals, Food and Feed Section Animal Health and Welfare).

However, when the first outbreak of a contagious animal disease occurs (i.e. African swine fever or foot and mouth disease), the situation has to be considered extremely urgent. In some cases, due to the particular high-speed diffusion of some diseases, the reaction has to be immediate.

For this reason 24 hour (round the clock) control on these notifications is needed. In view of this, the Head of Unit in DG SANTE can be contacted via GSM/mobile telephone and in case of disease outbreaks, the Head of Unit and/or other colleagues can then come to the office to cover the epidemic event.

The presence of expert personnel with knowledge of veterinary legislation on animal health, contagious animal diseases and epidemiology is also needed to manage this kind of emergency situation.

Detailed information on each outbreak in an ADIS country of an infectious disease in animals, listed in Annex I of Regulation (EU) 2020/2002, is sent by the ADIS countries to the European Commission via the ADIS.

A summary of the outbreaks notified to the European Commission* is given in a table for the current year. A weekly map and outbreak summary is also provided. This information is updated on a regular basis. All this information and overviews for the previous years can be found here.

*NB: The table and maps only reflect the situation as notified by the countries listed in the document.

• ADIS Union Notifications (updated frequently)
• ADIS, the EU Animal Disease Information System, now linked to WAHIS