EU announces bacteria, virus, and parasite lab leaders

The European Commission has named the labs that will lead work on bacteria, parasites, and viruses.

The European Reference Laboratories (EURLs) are for food- and water-borne bacteria, food- and water-borne viruses, and food-, water- and vector-borne helminths and protozoa.

EURLs are designated for seven years and will be funded under the EU4Health program. They will support national public health laboratories by ensuring data comparability and capacity and strengthening lab methods at the EU level.

The European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) will coordinate the network of EURLs for public health.

Bacteria and parasites
Statens Serum Institut (SSI) in Denmark will lead the consortium designated as the EURL for public health on food- and water-borne bacteria with help from the Dutch National Institute for Public Health and the Environment (RIVM), and Istituto Superiore di Sanità (ISS) in Italy.

The EURL will support national reference laboratories for activities related to Salmonella, Shiga toxin-producing E. coli (STEC), Listeria monocytogenes, Campylobacter, and Shigella. The scope also includes Vibrio and Yersinia.

It shall help members of ECDC’s European Food—and Waterborne Diseases and Zoonoses Network (FWD-Net) on aspects related to diagnostics, testing methods, and the use of certain tests for uniform surveillance, notification, and reporting of diseases.

Istituto Superiore di Sanità (ISS) will lead the EURL on food-, water—and vector-borne helminths and protozoa, which includes Folkhälsomyndigheten (the Public Health Agency of Sweden).

This lab covers Echinococcus, Toxoplasma gondii, Trichinella, and Plasmodium. If there is an EU-level need related to other parasites of public health relevance such as Cryptosporidium, Giardia lamblia, Leishmania, Strongyloides stercoralis, and Taenia solium, the EURL may also be requested to provide input and advice.

It will coordinate the relevant national focal points for food, water, emerging, and vector-borne diseases and the operational contact points for microbiology.

Virus expertise
The Norwegian Institute of Public Health (FHI) will lead the EURL on food—and water-borne viruses. RIVM in the Netherlands and Regensburg University Medical Center in Germany will support the agency.

The EURL shall help national reference laboratories with activities related to the Hepatitis A virus. The scope also includes the Hepatitis E virus. Should there be an EU-level need related to other viruses, the EURL may also be asked to share its expertise.

Tasks include providing reference testing to network members, external quality assessments, scientific advice and technical assistance, information, guidance, and support to ECDC during outbreaks, and organizing training and meetings. 

EURLs will also participate in expert committees, such as the ECDC—European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) Advisory Board, on the management and sharing of molecular typing data of isolates from humans, food, feed, animals, and the related environment.

The EU Commission held a call for applications earlier this year to decide the revised lab set-up. The EURL for Salmonella was RIVM; for Campylobacter, it was the Swedish Veterinary Agency, and the French Agency for Food, Environmental and Occupational Health and Safety (ANSES) held the role for Listeria. Istituto Superiore di Sanità in Italy was the EURL for parasites and E. coli. Livsmedelsverket (the Swedish Food Agency) was the EURL for foodborne viruses. 

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Source: https://www.foodsafetynews.com/2024/12/eu-announces-bacteria-virus-and-parasite-lab-leaders/