Timely and reliable data and information availability and sharing is essential for early warning, prevention and control of transboundary diseases. While there are a growing number of global datasets capable of providing information for use in early warning systems and risk assessment (RA) tools, there are currently time-consuming data cleansing and harmonisation activities which need to be carried out before they can be reliably used and combined. Thus, using global datasets as they stand can lead to errors in RA parameterisation and results due to inherent biases in the data, e.g. missing disease prevalence data treated as a zero may inadvertently penalise those countries which do report disease outbreaks as opposed to those countries which are affected by a pathogen but do not report outbreak data. It is therefore of great importance that data are clearly provided and easy to understand and that data providers strive for greater harmonisation of database standards.

In this paper the datasets utilised in the SPARE ('Spatial risk assessment framework for assessing exotic disease incursion and spread through Europe') project are described and discussed in terms of key criteria: accessibility, availability, completeness, consistency and quality. It is evident that most databases exist as information portals and not exclusively for RA purposes. Another striking issue from this assessment is the need for enhanced data sharing specifically with regards to data on illegal seizures, arthropod vector/wildlife abundance, intra-country livestock movement and national animal disease surveillance.

It is hoped that the outcomes of this work will promote discussion and exchange between data providers, including the development of standardised data exchange protocols. The transformation of datasets to a common format is a considerable challenge but recommendations could and should be made on the standardisation of datasets and reporting in order to achieve a unified approach across Europe.

及时可靠的数据和信息的获取和共享对于预警，预防和控制跨界疾病至关重要。尽管越来越多的全球数据集能够提供用于预警系统和风险评估（RA）工具的信息，但目前需要进行耗时的数据清理和协调活动，然后才能可靠地使用它们。并结合在一起。因此，使用现有的全球数据集可能会导致RA参数设置错误，并且由于数据的固有偏差而导致结果，例如，将疾病流行率数据视为零的缺失可能会无意中惩罚那些报告疾病爆发的国家，而不是那些报告疾病爆发的国家。受病原体影响，但不报告爆发数据。

在本文中，按照关键标准（可访问性，可用性，完整性，一致性和质量）描述和讨论了SPARE（“用于评估外来疾病入侵和在欧洲传播的空间风险评估框架”）项目中使用的数据集。显然，大多数数据库都以信息门户的形式存在，而不仅仅是RA的目的。该评估的另一个突出问题是需要加强数据共享，特别是关于非法缉获，节肢动物媒介/野生动物数量，国家内牲畜移动和国家动物疾病监测的数据。

希望这项工作的成果将促进数据提供者之间的讨论和交流，包括制定标准化的数据交换协议。将数据集转换为通用格式是一个巨大的挑战，但是可以并且应该就数据集和报告的标准化提出建议，以实现整个欧洲的统一方法。