Programme

Brucella suis biovar 2 (BSB2) is mainly encountered in hares and wild boars (Sus scrofa), and is known to have very low pathogenicity to humans with only two case reports published in the literature. Human cases of brucellosis caused by BSB2 were identified through the national mandatory notification of brucellosis. The identification of the bacterium species and biovar were confirmed by the national reference laboratory. Epidemiological data were obtained during medical follow-up visits. Seven human cases were identified between 2004 and 2016 in France, all confirmed by the isolation of BSB2 in clinical specimens.

EFSA & ECDC has recently published the European Union summary report on trends and sources of zoonoses, zoonotic agents and food-borne outbreaks in 2015, available at the following link: http://www.efsa.europa.eu/en/efsajournal/pub/4634 Part regarding staphylococcal foodborne outbreaks can be found in clause 3.16.3.3, p 198-199.

European experts have noted an increasing trend of listeriosis since 2008, but they highlight that the number of affected people stabilised from 2014 to 2015. Infections were mostly reported in people over 64 years of age. These are some of the findings of the latest annual report by EFSA and ECDC on zoonotic diseases, which also includes the latest trends on salmonellosis, campylobacteriosis, and foodborne outbreaks in the European Union (published 16 December 2016). See the article published on Listeria (EFSA website).

♦ 16 January 2017 ♦ Next workshop for rabies will be held on 13 June, afternoon, and 14 June, morning in Budapest, Hungary. The rabies serology meeting will follow on 14 June, afternoon, and 15 June, full day at the same place. A mail of information has been sent to both networks. Laboratories from the serology network willing to present or share information about rabies serology (development of new tools, comparison of techniques, situation of your laboratory regarding rabies serology…) during the meeting should inform the serology team before 10th March 2017.  

♦ 09 January 2017 ♦ Registrations for the 2017 session of the inter laboratory test for rabies diagnosis are now closed. Forty-eight laboratories from all continents will participate to this annual trial, testing one or several diagnosis techniques (FAT, RTCIT, Conventional RT-PCR and Real Time RT-PCR). Requested documentation (fully filled in, initialled and stamp unilateral commitment and import license) must be sent to the EURL for rabies for finalisation of registration.  

♦ 19 December 2016 ♦ [Relayed from the Uppsala Universitat website] A new study has found rabies antibodies in the blood of bats in southern Sweden belonging to a certain species. The study is published by researchers at the Swedish Public Health Agency, the National Veterinary Institute, the Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences and the Zoonosis Centre at Uppsala University.   (…Read more)  

♦ 20 October 2016 ♦ [Relayed from GARC website – Article from Louise Taylor] Recently developed rapid immunodiagnostic tests for rabies diagnosis promise testing outside the laboratory, require virtually no equipment and minimal training, and produce a result in minutes. Such tests are available on the market now, but do they work? (…Read more)  

♦ 01 January 2017 ♦ The EURL for rabies team wishes you, your family, friends and colleagues a happy and prosperous Year 2017.  

Announcement of the 2017 AOAC-Europe International Conferences “LABS in a CRYSTAL BALL - New trends for multi-components analysis” scheduled March 2nd & 3rd, 2017 at Parque Científico de Barcelona.               This Symposium has now been cancelled.