The 2023 session of the Inter laboratory test (ILT) for rabies diagnosis is about to begin. The shipping of sample panels is scheduled for the 15th of May. Thirty-four panels will be sent to participating laboratories among the EURL network. Laboratories, which have not totally complied with documentation requirements, must ensure compliance before May 14th 2023. Submission of the results will have to made through a digital survey on a dedicated server.

 During two half days, the beautiful city of Ljubljana will welcome the participants of the annual meeting organized by the EURL for rabies on 21 and 22 June 2023. Dedicated to the current situation of rabies control and surveillance in EU, as well as progress on laboratory techniques and feedback on previous ILT sessions, the fourteen edition of the Workshop for rabies will be an exiting event allowing more than 60 scientist from the entire EURL network to meet and interact all together. See you soon in Slovenia!    

AlimOmic co-organisait avec Dr. Stephane Bayen, Dr. Gaud Dervilly et Dr. Christophe Cordella un colloque sur les techniques modernes d'analyse des aliments dans le cadre de l'ACFAS. Julien Parinet était conférencier invité, ce qui lui a permis de présenter les travaux réalisés via AlimOmic

Please have a look at this webinar scheduled for June 6th, 2023, 13:00-17:00 CEST The free webinars are planned to deal with the concept of NTMs (terminology, possible approaches, data processing etc...) and how such methods can be validated to give reliable results.  

The first physical Centre management meeting of the year was held in Denmark in Vejle from 12 to 14 April 2023. Thirteen members of the Centre met in order to prepare the third 3 EURCAWs-NRCs/SBs meeting, the fourth CAs meeting (save the date: online meeting, 2*0.5 days during the last week of October 2023) and work together on the 2023 various tasks.    

Organized by EURCAW-Poultry-SFA. The webinar was held via Teams. Target audience: Official inspectors from the Competent Authorities of the EU MSs Attendance through invitation only.   The PDF of the presentation is available here. The webinar recording is available here.    Description: Council Regulation (EC) No 1099/2009 of 24 September 2009 on the protection of animals at the time of killing requires assessing the state of consciousness of the animals in order to identify whether the stunning and killing have been properly performed. This webinar aims to guide the official veterinarian on what behavioural indicators should be assessed in broiler chickens during the stunning procedure by means of carbon dioxide in two phases and mixtures of carbon dioxide associated to inert gases. It pretends to elucidate what behaviours are related to aversion to gas, what are the indicators of loss of consciousness and death as well as to differentiate behaviours that broiler chickens may perform when unconscious and thus, behaviours that are not a welfare issue. It will also offer the opportunity for discussion and doubts resolution.   The aim of the webinar was to: Review the main welfare aspects of stunning broiler chickens by exposure to controlled atmosphere Discuss the main results of the EURCAW-Poultry-SFA study on the assessment of welfare during the exposure to alternative mixtures to carbon dioxide in two phases in broiler chickens, evaluated in experimental conditions. Recommend ABIs and their methods of assessment (where and how to do the assessment, during how much time, how to do the sampling), providing video examples.   The webinar was attended by 86 people (102 registered), from 20 EU Member States: Austria, Belgium, Cyprus, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Lithuania, Luxembourg, The Netherlands, Portugal, Romania, Spain, and Sweden.   Schedule: 10:00-10:10: Introduction EURCAW – A. Velarde 10:10-10:18: Review Stunning of broiler chickens by Controlled Atmosphere Stunning – A. Contreras 10:18-10:38: Technical study Controlled Atmosphere Stunning – S. Rucinque 10:38-10:50: Recommendations – A. Varvaró 10:50-11:00: Sampling – V. Michel 11:00-11:10: Virtual coffee break 11:10-12:00: Discussion   This webinar has been organized within the sub-activity 4.2: Development of course material for specific topics, of the working program 2023-2024.

EFSA with the inter-EURL working group on Whole Genome Sequencing (WGS) is organising the “Science Meets Policy” conference on “EU initiatives towards the large-scale use of Next Generation Sequencing (NGS) to tackle foodborne threats” (online and in Parma) to be held on 5-6 September 2023. The meeting is open to all interested parties and it will be particularly relevant for food safety risk assessment competent authorities in the EU and beyond, as well as policymakers, academics and stakeholders with an interest in the topic. Registration is open until 31 May at 12:00 (CEST) for physical participation and 1 September for online attendance. -> https://www.efsa.europa.eu/en/events/science-meets-policy-conference-using-next-generation-sequencing-tackle-foodborne-threats   EFSA reserves the right to screen registrations for physical participation to ensure a balanced representation of all stakeholder and expertise groups. Registrants for in-person attendance will be informed whether their physical participation is confirmed after 2 June. Online attendance does not have limitation in regards of number of participants. Registration for in-person attendance may close earlier than the indicated deadline if the maximum number of participants is reached before that date.   Thank you for disseminating this information to any relevant national organisations/networks/stakeholders that may be interested in the conference.

[relayed from ASM website]   In 2020, the reclassification of Ochrobactrum species to the genus Brucella based on recent gene-content analysis studies was proposed. There are several implications of adopting the name of Brucella for these organisms. If laboratories report these organisms simply as Brucella species without including additional report comments or education around the name update, clinicians who are unaware of the alternate name may inappropriately treat patients as having brucellosis, which implies disease due to classic Brucella species. Furthermore, cultures of certain species of Brucella are considered select agents and must be handled and shipped as category A infectious substances, according to International Air Transport Association (IATA) and the United States Department of Transportation (DOT). Variability of select agent designation within the genus Brucella can lead to confusion in laboratory handling and reporting.   This guideline answers frequently asked questions regarding this taxonomic change including impacted species, potential clinical implications and guidance on distinguishing between Brucella (Ochrobactrum) species from agents of brucellosis.  This guideline was developed on behalf of the American Society for Microbiology Clinical and Public Health Microbiology Committee, Laboratory Practices Subcommittee.