EFSA published the technical report of the urgent scientific and technical assistance to provide recommendations for sampling and testing in the processing plants of frozen vegetables aiming at detecting Listeria monocytogenes. EURL Lm participate to this work as expert.

The 23rd EU-RL/NRLs workshop scheduled at Anses-Fougeres location on June 28th and 29th 2018. Programme

Authors Anna Janowicz, Fabrizio De Massisa, Massimo Ancoraa, Cesare Cammàa, Claudio Patavinoa, Antonio Battistib, Karola Priorc, Dag Harmsenc, Holger Scholzd, Katiuscia Zillia, Lorena Sacchinia, Elisabetta Di Giannatalea and Giuliano Garofolo Abstract [relayed from jcm.asm.org] The use of whole genome sequencing (WGS) using next generation sequencing (NGS) technology has become a widely accepted method for microbiology laboratories in the application of molecular typing for outbreak tracing and genomic epidemiology. Several studies demonstrated the usefulness of WGS data analysis through single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) calling from a reference sequence analysis for Brucella melitensis, whereas gene-by-gene comparison through core-genome multilocus sequence typing (cgMLST) has not been explored so far. The current study developed an allele-based cgMLST method and compared its performance to the genome-wide SNP approach and the traditional MLVA on a defined sample collection. The dataset comprised of 37 epidemiologically linked animal cases of brucellosis as well as 71 isolates with unknown epidemiological status composed of human and animal samples collected in Italy.

Dear colleagues,   Anses has developed a software/web interface (https://leila.anses.fr/) to simplify organisation of Inter-Laboratory Proficiency tests ! This software will facilitate the access to all the information concerning the ILPT (calendar, online registration, documents, reports). Each laboratory has now to create a Laboratory workspace into the software. You can find a tutorial to create your workspace (https://vimeo.com/ansesleila). After this creation, you will be ready for the future ILPT. Hope to see you soon on LEILA!   In case of any further question, please contact us (eurl.brucellosis@anses.fr)

The EURL team organised the first 2018 training session on the 14th and 15th June at ANSES. This 2-day training session focused on control of ELISAs and Rose Bengale (RB) antigens. Eight participants from  Croatia, Ireland, Lithuania, Malta, Portugal, Romania, Slovenia and Spain performed a successful control of a serum ELISA kit and two RB antigens. It was a good opportunity to exchange on critical points of reagents controls and share experience on protocols and reagents.

Regulation (EU) 2018/470 : on detailed rules on the MRL to be considered for control purposes for foodstuffs dervied from animals which have been treated in the EU under Article 11 of Directives 2001/82/EC - The Cascade Use

 Authors Rene Kaden, Sevinc  Ferrari,  Tomas Jinnerot,  Martina Lindberg,  Tara Wahab,  Moa Lavander

 Authors Rene Kaden, Sevinc  Ferrari,  Tomas Jinnerot,  Martina Lindberg,  Tara Wahab,  Moa Lavander

Sali M, De Maio F, Tarantino M, Garofolo G, Tittarelli M, Sacchini L, et al.   [Relayed from journals.plos.one] Brucellosis is essentially a disease of domesticated livestock; however, humans can also be infected via the consumption of contaminated meat or dairy products, underlying the need for rapid and accurate identification methods. Procedures for microbiological identification and typing of Brucella spp. are expensive, time-consuming, and must be conducted in biohazard containment facilities to minimize operator risk. The development of a matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization time-of-flight mass spectrometry (MALDI-TOF-MS)-based assay has reduced the processing time while maintaining performance standards. In this study, to improve the identification accuracy and suitability of the MALDI-TOF-based assay for routine diagnosis, we developed a new protein extraction protocol and generated a custom reference database containing Brucella strains representative of the most widespread species. The reference library was then challenged with blind-coded field samples isolated from infected animals. The results indicated that the database could be used to correctly identify 99.5% and 97% of Brucella strains at the genus and species level, respectively, indicating that the performance of the assay was not affected by the different culture conditions used for microbial isolation. Moreover, the inactivated samples were stored and shipped to reference laboratories with no ill effect on protein stability, thus confirming the reliability of our method for routine diagnosis. Finally, we evaluated the epidemiological value of the protocol by comparing the clustering analysis results of Brucella melitensis strains obtained via multiple locus variable-number tandem repeat analysis or MALDI-TOF MS. The results showed that the MALDI-TOF assay could not decipher the true phylogenetic tree, suggesting that the protein profile did not correspond with the genetic evolution of Brucella.

A leaflet presenting the European Foulbrood disease caused by the bacterium Melissococcus plutonius has been produced by the EURL in collaboration with the NRLs from Sweden and Switzerland. This leaflet is intended for the beekeepers and is available in free access here. We thank all the persons who participated to the writing of this leaflet. Reminder: in this page you will also find the leaflets on the Small Hive Beetle, Tropilaelaps spp., the American foulbrood and Vespa velutina in various languages.