♦ 13 September 2016 ♦ The first session of proficiency test on serological techniques performed in the frame of rabies control programmes in wildlife (monitoring of oral vaccination) will soon be launched. The main objective of this proficiency test will be to have a global overview of the performances of the techniques and protocols undertaken by the NRLs to titrate the rabies antibodies in wildlife samples. Considering the number of different techniques in use in the EU (seroneutralisation tests and ELISA tests), an ultimate objective for next years would be to try to get a better harmonization of results obtained by the NRL.  

♦ 28 September 2016 ♦ World rabies day will have a special taste this year as 2016 will be the tenth edition. Should you plan to do something special for this year, do not forget to register on the Global Alliance for Rabies Control website. Thank you to the countries of our network which already advertised: In Europe and North Africa, we noted that Britain will give a talk and fundraise for Mission Rabies, a vet in Spain is offering a 40% discount on pet vaccines, the Croatian Veterinary Institute plans to visit schools and university for rabies awareness and Egypt is pressuring GOVS to adopt GARC, OIE and WHO recommendations through the AWAR (Animal Welfare Awareness Research) programme. Thank you to all of you!  

♦ 08 August 2016 ♦ [relayed from cordis.europa.eu website] Launched in November 2011, the PREDEMICS five-year project has investigated ways of detecting a range of infectious pathogens - such as rabies, the human influenza virus and Ebola - quickly and simultaneously. All data amassed through the PREDEMICS project is currently being collected and compiled in a freely accessible data-sharing platform, which will enable further analysis after the project is completed at the end of October 2016. Furthermore, training in leading European universities, as well as exchanges of approaches and data sharing with national and international health organisations has been carried out, in order to strengthen Europe’s position in this global challenge.  

♦ 01 September 2016 ♦ Reminder: The Health Certificate for pet animal (dog, cat or ferret) in Part 1 of Annex IV to Regulation (EU) No 577/2013 was only applicable until 31 August 2016. The new model applicable from 1st September 2016 is available on the ec.europa.eu website.  

Announcement of the 21st EU-RL/NRLs workshop scheduled at Anses-Fougeres location on October 6th and 7th, 2016 and dedicated to the  CONTROL OF ANTIMICROBIAL RESIDUES IN FOOD FROM ANIMAL ORIGIN ADVANCES IN LC-MS/MS METHOD FOR SCREENING AND CONFIRMING ANTIBIOTICS  IN MEAT and FISH

Announcement of the 2016 AOAC-Europe International Conferences “LABS in a CRYSTAL BALL - New trends for multi-components analysis” scheduled October 18th & 19th, 2016 at Parque Científico de Barcelona

♦ 04 July 2016 ♦   Central Veterinary Institute, part of Wageningen University and Research Centres – Lelystad       Dutch National Reference Laboratory The Central Veterinary Institute (CVI) collaborates with public and private partners to safeguard animal and public health. CVI contributes to the prevention, eradication and control of animal infectious diseases through research, diagnostics and consultancy. By doing so, CVI helps to guarantee international trade and to preserve the international top position of the Dutch livestock industry. In 1904 we started as the National Serum Institute in Rotterdam. In 1959 this institute merged with the Governmental veterinary research institute (situated in Amsterdam) into the CVI. CVI is the national reference institute for notifiable animal diseases in the Netherlands. For these diseases CVI has an important and decisive task to determine the final diagnosis.   Rabies in the Netherlands In the period from 1875 to 1923 several laws were installed to eradicate dog as well as sylvatic rabies in the Netherlands, leading to the official OIE rabies free status in 1923. In the period from 1974-1988 the free status was lost however, due to a reintroduction of sylvatic rabies through foxes from the east through Belgium and Germany. After 1988 the country regained it OIE free status but by then was confronted with a new phenomenon, European bat lyssavirus. Since 1987 a nationwide surveillance system was set up, and since then, over 5000 bats have been tested for EBLV, resulting in 377 cases of EBLV-1 in serotine bats and 5 cases of EBLV-2 in pond bats. Since that time the only classical rabies cases were import cases. The last incident occurred in 2012 when a 8,5-week-old puppy was imported from Morocco. A day after arrival in Amsterdam the puppy showed aggressive behaviour and two days later suspicion of rabies arose and was confirmed by CVI. Over forty people were given post-exposure-prophylaxis and several contact animals were euthanized for rabies testing. Picture: EBLV-1 and EBLV-2 cases in the Netherlands from 2004 to 2016   Laboratory and staff Rabies diagnostics at CVI is performed by the Diagnostic Unit. All suspect cases, bats as well as larger mammals (mostly foxes and dogs) are tested by FAT and real-time RT-PCR. The FAT is ISO17025 accredited, as well as the EBLV-1 real-time PCR. Other PCR tests such as the RABV and EBLV-2 real-time PCR and several conventional PCR are extensively validated and run under ISO9001 standards. The Fluorescence Antibody neutralisation test (FAVN) is used for determination of antibody titres in pets as well as humans. These tests are performed by a team of technicians and staff to authorize results. Since CVI has a 24/7 duty to perform rabies diagnostics in cases of direct contact of humans with suspect animals such as bats or sometimes foxes we maintain a minimum of eight people per team. Besides the diagnostics tasks, CVI has limited resources for rabies research. Besides phylogenetic analyses of all the positive bat cases and a study on molecular species determination we have been involved in several studies aiming at further analysis of bats in search of other potential zoonotic viruses. In 2012 we co-authored a paper on bat Coronaviruses in the Netherlands and to date we are involved in a study on the Dutch ABC islands (Aruba, Bonaire and Curacao).                     Contacts E.A. (Bart) Kooi, Ph.D. Projectleader Rabies and Biosafety Officer Central Veterinary Institute of Wageningen UR Houtribweg 39, 8221 RA Lelystad e-mail: bart.kooi@wur.nl Internet: www.cvi.wur.   Presentation of Dutch NRL.pdf

♦ 04 July 2016 ♦ The annual online activity questionnaire was submitted to all National Reference Laboratories (NRLs) early 2016 to collect and collate data on methods used and results of tests carried out in the Community in the frame of rabies control programmes (Commission regulations (EU) N° 737/2008 and N°415/2013). This document reviews the 2015 analysis performed in 27 NRLs from the European Union and in 7 NRLs from third countries involved in a rabies control programme. The report is available n the private part of the EURL for rabies website for private members only.  

♦ 01 July 2016 ♦ The inter-laboratory test for rabies diagnosis is now over. A total of 54 laboratories, including 28 non-EUMS laboratories participated to the 2016 session of the test. This year the test was composed of a panel of 10 samples to be tested with the chosen technique(s) (FAT, RTCIT, Conventional and/or Real Time RT-PCR) and a corresponding online technical questionnaire for each tested technique. The report should be available in autumn 2016. In the meantime, participants will receive an online satisfaction questionnaire regarding this test.