The first EURL workshop scheduled on the 19th of March 2020 has been postponed to the second half of the year due to the coronavirus. The workshop has been rescheduled on the 20th of October 2020.  In order to assure all participants' safety and avoid any travel risks, the EURL workshop will be celebrated by videoconference.   We hope to see you all behind the screen! 

Message from our Italian colleague of the EURL E. coli ------------------------ Dear Colleague, I’m sure you all know about the situation in Italy with respect to the number of cases of COVID-19 infections, and the recent news of the spreading of cases to other European countries also adds to the  general uncertainty. Actually, at the moment, Rome is not concerned by the public health emergency, but the situation is fluid and we cannot predict what will happen by March the 10th. Additionally, following the feedback from many registered participants who are afraid to travel to Italy for the coronavirus and others who are afraid to travel anywhere due to the problems they may incur while traveling (queues, flight cancelled etc…), we took the decision of postponing the event in another date, most probably after the summer break, when the backlashes of the actual crisis will presumably be over. Such a decision has been made also following the guidance of the health Authorities. I’m really sorry for this, but we feel that the best choice is not to expose people, if not to the possibility to get infected with the COVID-19, but to be subjected to heavy difficulties while traveling to Rome. As said, the conference will be moved after the summer break. The exact date will be notified to you all soon. The registration already done for the event on March the 10th will not be maintained and you should re-register online. A link for the new registration to the conference will be published as the date will be disclosed. I’m really sorry for this and hope you will be still eager to participate to the postponed conference With my best regards Stefano Morabito Director, European Reference Laboratory for E. coli Director, Microbiological food safety and food-borne diseases Unit Food safety, nutrition and Veterinary Public Health Department Istituto Superiore di Sanità Viale Regina Elena 299 00161 Rome, Italy Tel. 00390649903081 Mobile 00393294626848 Fax 0390649387101  

EPIZONE Meeting is postponed : 14th Annual Meeting of EPIZONE from will be in Ghent, Belgium from 15-17 September 2021. https://www.epizone-eu.net/en/Home/show/14th-EPIZONE-AM-has-been-postponed.htm  

Save the date : Italy, 27 September -3 October 2021 2020, back to Chicago ? The planned dates for CRWAD this year are the first weekend of December, so the meeting 2020 may be organised in Chicago, 5-6 December.  We will keep you informed !

Identification of Aethina tumida, the Small Hive Beetle, by morphological examination and PCR Aims: To evaluate the conformity of the results obtained by the European Union (EU) National Reference Laboratories (NRLs) for the identification of Aethina tumida by morphological examination and PCR. Requirements for participation: NRLs from EU Member States and NRLs from third countries (depending on the feasibility). Inter-laboratory comparative test (ILCT) methods: Morphological examination only. Or morphological examination and PCR. Matrix: Entomological specimens stored at room temperature in ethanol 70%. Provisional Agenda: Registration: February 2020 ILCT period: April 2020   Note: Proficiency tests organised by the EURL are mainly intended for the NRLs and the Official Laboratories of the EU. If other laboratories are interested in participating, please contact the EURL (eurl.bee@anses.fr) for more information.    Another ILPT will be organised on virology later at the end of the year

[relayed from EFSA & ECDC]  In 2018, 358 confirmed brucellosis cases in humans were reported in the EU. The EU notification rate was 0.08 cases per 100,000 population, which was the lowest notification rate reported since the beginning of the EU‐level surveillance. Compared with 2017, the total number of Brucella‐positive or ‐infected cattle herds, sheep flocks and goat herds in the not officially free regions further decreased by 13% and by 12%, respectively. During recent years, the proportion of brucellosis‐positive cattle herds, sheep flocks and goat herds in not officially free regions in Italy and Portugal decreased. In Spain and Croatia, eradication of brucellosis in cattle, sheep and goats is within reach with almost no positive herds reported for these last years. Brucellosis in cattle and in sheep and goats is still endemic in southern regions in Italy with the highest prevalence in Sicily and in Greece and Portugal. Greece reported the highest notification rate of confirmed cases in humans, 10 times higher than the EU average, while at the same time reporting an enzootic situation in animals: 1% infected cattle herds and 3% infected sheep and goats herds on the Greek islands whereas from Continental Greece data were lacking. Brucellosis is still an animal health problem with public health relevance in southern Europe/in countries that are not officially free of brucellosis.

NEW DATE: 26 - 27 October 2020 ASFILAB will arrange an international symposium in Paris on Chemical and Microbiological Food Analyses  namely :  “ Analytical Measurements in the Society “ For more details at :  http://www.aoaceurope.com/  

[relayed from Animals, 9(11), 922]  Even if it is an important achievement from a biodiversity conservation perspective, the documented increase in abundance of the four native European wild Caprinae (Rupicapra rupicapra, R. pyrenaica, Capra ibex, C. pyrenaica) can also be a matter of concern, since tighter and more frequent contact with sympatric livestock implies a greater risk of transmission of emerging and re-emerging pathogens.   This article reviews the main transmissible diseases that, in a European scenario, are of greater significance from a conservation perspective. Epidemics causing major demographic downturns in wild Caprinae populations during recent decades were often triggered by pathogens transmitted at the livestock/wildlife interface

From the 12th to th 14th of November, the EURL Brucellosis team went to the National Veterinary Laboratory in Malta to provide a practical training session. This lab is nominated NRL for Brucellosis for Malta and is ISO 17025 accredited. The NRL aims to include the main serological methods for Brucellosis diagnosis in their accreditation scope by the end of 2019.   Acacia Ferreira Vicente (Project manager- EURL Brucellosis team) and Maëline Ribeiro (Lab analyst- EURL Brucellosis team) presented diffèrent aspects of Quality Management applied to serological methods for brucellosis diagnosis. We would like to congratulate Susan Chircop (Head of Malta's Brucellosis team) and the team for their effort and dedication in all the work.

The International Brucellosis Society organized its annual 2-day conference  in Chicago on November 2 and 3, 2019, bringing together 120 participants from 27 countries and including 18 students. In total, the conference counted 33 oral communications and 21 posters. The European and French teams were well represented with 12 oral presentations and 2 posters. The program scanned the different aspects of the research, including cellular interactions between Brucella and host cells (with a guest lecture by Suzana Salcedo, CNRS UMR 5086, University of Lyon), experimental results on new vaccine approaches and several communications related to particular human cases and Brucella excretion in milk and cheese.   Seven European countries contributed actively to the conference programme : ANSES (EURL for Brucellosis, France), APHA (UK), BfR (Germany), CITA (Spain), CNRS (France), INSERM (France), ISZAM (Italy) and NARILIS (Belgium). The EURL team presented 2 oral communications and 1 poster, by Guillaume Girault, Claire Ponsart and Luca Freddi respectively. Noteworthy was an oral presentation on the STAR-IDAZ project, with Brucellosis as a priority topics. More information will be given in our next newsletter.   Next conference will be organised by ISZAM in Italy, 2020, September 29th to October, 2nd. A great opportunity for EU teams to meet and present their research and results, save the date!