The core team (YB, AG, GK) contacted relevant leading national public health institutions with the request to name a representative to take part in the Delphi consensus process that aimed at assessing the feasibility of the methodology and the relevance of the suggested criteria, as well as to discuss possible improvements and pathogens' scores. Ten external senior experts (BG, UG, JH, TJ, MK, MKr, TL, MP, NS, UU) were nominated. They represented the National Committee of Infectious Disease Epidemiology, the German Society of Hygiene and Microbiology, the German Society of Infectious Disease Specialists, the German Society of Epidemiologists, the National Reference Laboratories, the German Federal Ministry of Health, the RKI Scientific Committee, the German Federal Chamber of Physicians and the German Medical Association. Ten internal experts (GK, AG, YB, SB, RB, TE, OH, KS, OW, MM) represented units and departments of the RKI working in the field of infectious diseases. The participants shared expertise in bacteriology, virology, mycology, parasitology, general infectious diseases, tropical medicine, general medicine, epidemiology, public health, veterinary health and infection control.