♦ 18 January 2018 ♦ According to the European regulation 2010/436/EU, Anses-Nancy organized once a year in April a rabies serology inter-laboratory test. The participation in the rabies serology proficiency allows successful laboratories to be approved by the European Commission for the serological testing in the context of the international movements of pets. Last year, seventy-two laboratories successfully passed the rabies serology inter-laboratory test. Registration for the 2018 test is now ongoing. Should your laboratory be interested in participating to it, please contact rabies.serology.eu-rl@anses.fr for information and conditions. Deadline for registration is on 2nd February 2018.  

♦ 12 December 2017 ♦ [Relayed from www.efsa.europa.eu website] “This report of the European Food Safety Authority and the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control presents the results of the zoonoses monitoring activities carried out in 2016 in 37 European countries (28 Member States (MS) and nine non-MS). […] The report further summarises trends and sources for bovine tuberculosis, brucellosis, trichinellosis, echinococcosis, toxoplasmosis, rabies, Q fever, West Nile fever and tularaemia.” Rabies can be found in chapter 11, and is subdivided in “Surveillance and monitoring of rabies in the EU” (11.2), “Data analyses” (11.3), “Results” ((11.4) and “Discussion” (11.5), followed by an interesting link section “Related projects and internet sources” (11.6).  

♦ 20 December 2017 ♦ Anses publishes each month an online newsletter in English covering some recent news on its activities. Main subjects in the last edition deal with: “Facilitating the marketing of biocontrol plant protection products”, “Food supplements containing spirulina: the importance of choosing trustworthy supply channels”, “H2020 One Health EJP Kick-off meeting”, “Visit the new website of the CIQUAL French Food composition table”, International conference “The impact of global change on the emergence of plant diseases and pests in Europe” and “ANSES 2016 Annual Reports”. The last issue can be read online following this link.  

There are no proficiency tests planned for 2018. The next proficiency tests will be organised in 2019 and they will be announced on the website at the beginning of 2019. We remind that these proficiency tests are mainly intended for the National Reference Laboratories and the Official Laboratories of the European Union. If other laboratories are interested in participating in a proficiency test, please contact eurl.bee@anses.fr for more information. 

Note prepared by the EU RL for Honeybee Health (Laboratory of  Anses Sophia Antipolis) Updated news (07th. March 2018) This article will no longer be updated. A new article on the surveillance of Aethina tumida in Italy in 2018 has been created here. To see the details of the outbreaks observed in 2016, please click here.     

The FDA is supporting the CDC and other organisation agencies in an investigation of a case of brucellosis linked to the consumption of raw milk from Udder milk, a "Co-op" that sells raw milk in New Jersey, New York, Connecticut and Rhode Island.

For your information, the EURL team prepared all materials / documents to launch the ILPT in 2017, November. Since 5 weeks, the EURL team is waiting for transport authorisations, which have to be delivered by ANSM (National Agency for drug security). Usually, such authorisations are delivered within 2-3 weeks. However, according to ANSM, some additional verifications were requested, thus leading to a slippage in the timetable. We apologize for this unforeseen delay that is beyond our control. As a consequence, we are obliged to wait before shipping the strain panel and reagents (phages / sera...) and to postpone the launch of ILPT in 2018. We will let you know as soon as we receive some additional information from ANSM. Meanwhile, we wish you a happy Holiday season, with best wishes for a 2018 full of opportunities and common projects on Brucella !    

The European Union summary report on trends and sources of zoonoses, zoonotic agents and food-borne outbreaks in 2016 was published on 12 December 2017. Here is the paragraphe on Listeria of the annoucement page entitled "Salmonella cases no longer falling in the EU" Listeria infections, which are generally more severe, led to hospitalisation in 97% of reported cases. In 2016, listeriosis continued to rise, with 2,536 cases (a 9.3% increase) and 247 deaths reported. Most deaths occur in people aged over 64 (fatality rate of 18.9%). People over 84 are particularly at risk (fatality rate of 26.1%). Listeriaseldom exceeded legal safety limits in ready-to-eat foods.  

♦ 14 December 2017 ♦ Season’s greetings and warm winter wishes for the holiday season. May every happiness be yours throughout the coming year.

In a context of (re)emerging infectious diseases with wildlife reservoirs, understanding how animal ecology shapes epidemiology is a key issue, particularly in wild ungulates that share pathogens with domestic herbivores and have similar food requirements. For the first time in Europe, brucellosis (Brucella melitensis), a virulent zoonosis, persisted in an Alpine ibex (Capra ibex) population and was transmitted to cattle and humans. To better understand disease dynamics, we investigated the relationships between the spatial ecology of ibex and the epidemiology of brucellosis. Combining home range overlap between 37 GPS-collared individuals and visual observations of 148 visually-marked individuals monitored during the 2013–2016 period, we showed that females were spatially segregated in at least 4 units all year round, whereas males were more prone to move between female units, in particular during the rutting period. In addition to ibex age, the spatial structure in females largely contributed to variation in seroprevalence in the whole population. These results suggest that non-sexual routes are the most likely pathways of intraspecific transmission, crucial information for management. Accounting for wildlife spatial ecology was hence decisive in improving our ability to better understand this health challenge involving a wildlife reservoir.