♦ 22 August 2017 ♦ 

Organisation of the veterinary laboratory diagnostic in Slovenia: National veterinary institute (NVI) is special Organization unit of Veterinary faculty at the University of Ljubljana. It operates as public institution of national interest. National reference laboratory for rabies is part of Unit for virology within NVI. The Unit for virology is located in specialized facilities for laboratory investigation of viral diseases. NVI performs the activities determined by the law on the veterinary service, on the basis of the concession contract signed between Slovene Veterinary Administration and NVI. Special systemization of NVI is approved by Veterinary Administration. NVI is only EU authorized laboratory for testing of blood samples in the frame of pets since 2005.
Activities and services: - Monitoring of literature, legislations and development of rabies diagnostics and coordination of the diagnostic methods. - Processing of diagnostic samples. - Rabies diagnosis and antibody testing in wildlife and domestic animals. - Participation in the preparation of programs for oral vaccination of foxes against rabies. - Monitoring of the success of oral vaccination of foxes. - Characterization and genotyping of the rabies virus isolates. - Cooperation with veterinary authorities. - Research activity in the field of rabies.  - Collaboration with EURL for rabies and other UR reference centers.
Diagnostic capabilities: - Fluorescent antibody test (FAT). - Rabies tissue culture isolation test (RTCIT). - Rabies virus in vaccine baits titration. - OTC determination. - Ages of foxes determination. - One step RT-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) specific for different Lyssavirus species. - One-step real-time RT-PCR (RTq-PCR). - Sanger nucleotide sequencing. - Next generation sequencing: Ion Torrent technology. Full article and graphs on the NRL presentation section.