♦ 12 December 2017 ♦ The report of the inter-laboratory comparison on tetracycline and age determination in red fox teeth is now online (private part only). The fourth inter-laboratory session has revealed that 92% of participating laboratories presented 100% concordant results in the tetracycline detection test. Considering the age determination of the samples, 69% of the laboratories estimated concordant age class on the whole panel. Both TTC detection and age estimation have...

♦ 18 January 2018 ♦ According to the European regulation 2010/436/EU, Anses-Nancy organized once a year in April a rabies serology inter-laboratory test. The participation in the rabies serology proficiency allows successful laboratories to be approved by the European Commission for the serological testing in the context of the international movements of pets. Last year, seventy-two laboratories successfully passed the rabies serology inter-laboratory test. Registration for the...

♦ 12 December 2017 ♦ [Relayed from www.efsa.europa.eu website] “This report of the European Food Safety Authority and the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control presents the results of the zoonoses monitoring activities carried out in 2016 in 37 European countries (28 Member States (MS) and nine non-MS). […] The report further summarises trends and sources for bovine tuberculosis, brucellosis, trichinellosis, echinococcosis, toxoplasmosis, rabies, Q fever...

♦ 20 December 2017 ♦ Anses publishes each month an online newsletter in English covering some recent news on its activities. Main subjects in the last edition deal with: “Facilitating the marketing of biocontrol plant protection products”, “Food supplements containing spirulina: the importance of choosing trustworthy supply channels”, “H2020 One Health EJP Kick-off meeting”, “Visit the new website of the CIQUAL French Food composition...

♦ 14 December 2017 ♦ Season’s greetings and warm winter wishes for the holiday season. May every happiness be yours throughout the coming year.

♦ 23 November 2017 ♦ Seventy-two out of the eighty-one participating laboratories successfully passed the 2017 rabies serology inter-laboratory test. Congratulation to all of them! As usual, a link to a satisfaction questionnaire has been sent to the participating laboratories for quality assurance matters. The list of the laboratories authorised to carry out the serological tests to monitor the effectiveness of the anti-rabies vaccination is available at the bottom of the...

♦ 18 October 2017 ♦ [Relayed from www.who.int] “On 18 October 2017, the Strategic Advisory Group of Experts (SAGE) on Immunization approved all of the recommendations proposed by the SAGE working group on rabies, as an update to the current WHO position paper on rabies immunization based on new evidence and experience in programme implementation. SAGE guides progress on global strategies and policies regarding vaccine-preventable diseases. A SAGE rabies working group was...

♦ 25-26 September 2017 ♦ [Relayed from www.rr-africa.oie.int] On September 25 and 26, 2017, the OIE Sub-Regional Representation for North Africa organised a “Workshop on the Rabies National Control Programme of the Tunisian Ministry of Agriculture: feedback from the field, state of play and ways of improvement", held in Tunis, Tunisia, in collaboration with the Tunisian Veterinary Services (Directorate-General of Veterinary Services). The workshop, funded by the...

♦ 02 October 2017 ♦ Further to the call for registration for the inter-laboratory test for tetracycline determination 2017, 13 NRLs volunteered to perform the test. The samples were sent to participants on 2 October 2017 under dry ice. Each panel is composed of several positive or negative red fox jaws for tetracycline, an acknowledgment form and a result form. The acknowledgement and result forms are expected back to the EURL by 30 October 2017 at the latest. As usual, a...

♦ 28 September 2017 ♦ The 9th workshop for rabies was held on 13 and 14 June 2017 in Budapest, Hungary. The annual rabies European Union Reference Laboratory (EURL) meeting gathered a total of 89 participants, among them 38 from the European Union Member States (EUMS), 11 from European Union bordering countries supported by TAIEX and 30 from other laboratories from all over the world. The report of this meeting has been sent on 28 September to all participants and is now...