♦ 05 May 2015 ♦

Since 2002 the Austrian NRL for Rabies is settled in the Austrian Agency for Health and Food Safety (AGES), Institute for Veterinary Disease Control (www.ages.at), the former Federal Institute for Veterinary Disease Control.

Tasks

Our main task area is processing of diagnostic samples. We are the only laboratory in Austria performing diagnostic examinations on rabies; antigen- as well as antibody detection.

Staff and outbreak management

Members of three departments are involved in all these examinations. Therefore, in case of a rabies outbreak, enough trained staff will be available.
 

All methods are accredited according ISO 17025 since 2004.

For the examination of “high risk animals” e.g. clinical suspect illegal imported pets a journal service of a veterinarian and a technician on call is organized over the year.
We work in close cooperation with the advisory board for human rabies of AGES, especially concerning human ante mortem diagnosis or recommendation of vaccination.

In case of an outbreak of rabies, the Federal Ministry of Health is responsible for organization of oral vaccination campaigns of foxes and compensation of hunters, representation of Austria in the EC and billing the co-financing of the EU.

Rabies eradication in Austria

At the beginning of the 1990s Austria started a very efficient concerted campaign of oral vaccination of foxes (ORV) Fig.1.

Fig.1.

During these campaigns, two cases of vaccine associated rabies were diagnosed.

During all these years samples from animals submitted for rabies diagnostics, were sampled for other scientific issues e.g. “Presence of Trichinella sp. in the Austrian fox population”, Distribution of Echinococcus multilocularis in the Austrian fox population.

Publications

• Krause, R., Bagó, Z., Revilla-Fernández, S., Loitsch, A., Allerberger, F., Kaufmann, P., Smolle, K.H., Brunner, G., Krejs, G.J. (2005): Travel-associated human rabies in an Austrian man. Emerg. Infect. Dis. 11, 719 – 721.
• Bagó, Z., Revilla-Fernández, S., Allerberger, F., Krause, R. (2005): Value of immunohistochemistry for rapid ante mortem rabies diagnostics. Letter to the editor. Int. J. Infect. Dis. 9, 351 – 352.
• Strauss, R., Gränz, A., Wassermann-Neuhold, M., Krause, R., Bagó, Z., Revilla Fernández, S., Simón-Soria, F.S., Echevarría, J.E., Popow-Kraupp, T., Allerberger, F., Schönbauer, M., Hrabcik, H. (2005): A case of travel-related rabies in Austria, September 2004. Eurosurveillance 10, 225 – 226.
• Fischer M., Wernike K., Freuling C.M., Mü ller T., Aylan O., Brochier B., Cliquet F., Vázquez-Morón S., Hostnik P., Huovilainen A., Isaksson M, Kooi E.A., Mooney J., Turcitu M., Rasmussen T.B., Revilla-Fernández S., Smreczak M, Fooks A.R., Marston D.A., Beer M., Hoffmann B. (2013): Step Forward in Molecular Diagnostics of Lyssaviruses – Results of a Ring Trial among European Laboratories. PLOS ONE, Volume 8 | Issue 3 | e58372
• Mcelhinney L.M., Marston D., Johnson N.,Black C., Matouch O., Lalosevic D., Stankov S., Must K., Smreczak M., Zmudzinski J.F., Botvinkin A., Aylan O., Vanek E., Cliquet F., Müller T., Fooks A.R. (2006): Molecular Epidemiology of Rabies Viruses in Europe Dev.Biol (Basel) 2006, 125, 17-28
• Müller T., Bätza H.-J., Beckert A., Bunzenthal C., Cox H., Freuling C.M., Fooks A. R., Frost J., Geue L.,  Höflechner A., Marston D., Neubert A., Neubert L., Revilla-FernándezS., Vanek E., Vos A., Wodak E., Zimmer K., Mettenleiter T. C. (2009): Analysis of vaccine-virus-associated rabies cases in red foxes (Vulpes vulpes) after oral rabies vaccination campaigns in Germany and Austria, Arch Virol, DOI 10.1007/s00705-009-0408-7

A pdf document is available here.

♦ 05 May 2015 ♦

[Relayed from the OIE]

The 2015 edition of the “OIE from A to Z” is already available. As usual, the “OIE A-Z 2015” can be found online, directly from the homepage of the OIE website.
This new edition presents several novelties which will greatly facilitate your work as decision-makers in the field of animal health and welfare. All the chapters have been updated, and numerous interactive documents and links have been added. We invite you to explore this dedicated website and to discover its different chapters:
•    The general presentation of the Organisation and the role of the representatives of its 180 Member Countries;
•    The Veterinary Services and their role in matters of animal health, public health and animal welfare;
•    The OIE standards applicable in matters of animal health, including zoonosis;
•    The OIE’s World Animal Health Information System: WAHIS/WAHID;
•    The official disease statuses of Member Countries with respect to several priority animal diseases;
•    The OIE’s global scientific network, the central core that enables the OIE to remain at the forefront of world veterinary scientific expertise and successfully carry out its key missions;
•    The OIE Publications chapter, which includes normative texts, serial publications and the proceedings of international conferences, aimed at informing public debate and policy development worldwide.

♦ 22 May 2015 ♦

Congratulations to Latvia!

The Self-declaration by Latvia of freedom from rabies submitted to the OIE on 8 December 2014 by Dr Maris Balodis, Delegate of Latvia to the OIE, Director General, Chief Veterinary Officer, Food and Veterinary Service, Ministry of Agriculture, Riga was recently published on the OIE bulletin No.2015-1. Latvia established a surveillance and eradication programme in wildlife and domestic animals as well as preventive measures (compulsory vaccination of domestic animals, oral vaccination of wildlife and information campaigns). The country has not reported any rabies cases during the past two years and then complies to the conditions to be considered a rabies-free country in accordance with Article 8.12.3. of the Terrestrial Animal Health Code (2014). Related OIE bulletin pages can be consulted here. Congratulations for the hard work done all this latter years!
 

♦ 1st June 2015 ♦

A panel of 9 brain samples was sent on 1st June to 47 participating laboratories. Please do not forget to send back your results before 1st July and to fill in the online technical questionnaires. Should you encounter any problems with the reception of the parcel or with the application of the test, do not hesitate to contact us. We wish you all a good test!
 

♦ 27-28 May 2015 ♦

The rabies EURL annual meeting gathered a total of 52 people. Many thanks and all our gratitude to our colleagues from the Croatian Veterinary Institute and to the Veterinary and Food Safety Directorate who made this event possible and successful. We also would like to warmly thank the European Commission and TAIEX for their support for travel and accommodation, as well as all the attendants and speakers for their contribution in this annual date. A Croatian veterinary newspaper article dedicated to this workshop is available here. This meeting gave the opportunity of many exchanges between attendants. As usual, a booklet with the abstracts of the talks was provided to every participant. All presentations will be soon on line in the restricted access part of the website. A photo souvenir is available here. Attendants eligible for the EC financial support have to send their original documents before 12 June.