♦ 16 October 2015 ♦

The EURL for rabies has been informed by a member of the NRL network (ISCIII, Spain) that the new batch of Fujirebio 524255 may provide a negative diagnosis result on the EBLV-1 strains detection. According to a study performed by a member of the NRL network using this material (APHA, UK), they conclude the new Fujirebio batch should not be used in FAT or RTCIT for diagnostic work due to its inability to detect EBLV-1 and EBLV-2 at a sufficiently high dilution to avoid non-specific fluorescence. Please take into account the manufacturer recommendations of systematically evaluate new batches against relevant virus strains.
 

♦ 07 October 2015 ♦

The RITA conference is an annual international event taking place in America where lots of research scientists, academics, students, public health officials, veterinary professionals, rabies program directors and others have the opportunity to meet, discuss and present the latest research in the fight against rabies worldwide. For the 2015 conference, the EURL for rabies had the opportunity to give a talk entitled “Control and Elimination of Rabies in the Baltic States” during the “Oral rabies vaccine and rabies control” session (OP54). The presentation can be seen on the EURL for rabies website.
 

♦ 20 September 2015 ♦

The fact sheet No.99 of the WHO Media Centre has been recently updated. The fact sheet covers topics such as key facts, prevention, symptoms, diagnosis, transmission, post-exposure prophylaxis (PEP) and summarises the WHO actions against the disease. (… Read more).  
 

♦ 28 September 2015 ♦

The 2015’s edition of the World Rabies Day was held as usual on 28 September and thereabouts. This event is celebrated all around the world, and not only in endemic areas. In Europe and bordering countries, many events were recorded on the GARC website: You could note amongst other things presentation & fundraising in the United Kingdom, conferences, exhibitions and workshop for school children in France, local mini symposium in Croatia, conference in Serbia, meeting with Hunting Federation in Albania, mass vaccination campaign and workshops to raise awareness at Elementary and Secondary Schools in Tunisia, awareness campaign for medical and paramedical staff in Algeria and vaccination campaign, field activities, awareness campaigns in schools and also media campaigns through the press and TV shows in Morocco... Of course, many other events were held in the other parts of the world as shown on the GARC website map.
 

♦ 02 September 2015 ♦

[Relayed from the OIE website] - The OIE is making publicly available on its website the 2014 edition of its Annual Report, providing an opportunity to look back over the events that marked the past year and to relive some aspects through videos, infographics, questions/answers and other online media. The document is available in English, French and Spanish: you are welcome to disseminate it within your own network. (…Read more)
 

♦ 22 September 2015 ♦

A total of 68 laboratories undertook the rabies serology inter laboratory test this year. A hard copy of the report on the inter laboratory test for rabies serology performed this spring (session April 2015) is currently being sent to each participant laboratory. A satisfaction questionnaire will follow in the coming weeks. For any enquiry related to this proficiency trial, please contact the EURL for rabies serology team.
 

♦ 01 October 2015 ♦

German National Reference Laboratory for Rabies

Friedrich-Loeffler-Institut - FLI


German National Reference Laboratory

The National Reference Laboratory (NRL) for Rabies is one of the 70 German NRLs for notifiable and reportable animal diseases at the Friedrich-Loeffler-Institut, Federal Research Institute for Animal Health. Three years ago our laboratory moved from the old location in Wusterhausen to the headquarters at the Isle of Riems, which is situated in the Baltic Sea half way between the cities of Stalsund and Greifswald.

_{Aerial photograph of the headquarters of the Friedrich-Loeffler-Institut as of July 2015}

 

Accreditation and tasks

Our reference laboratory has been accredited by the Deutsche Akkreditierungsstelle GmbH (DAkkS) according to ISO/IEC 17025. A broad range of standard rabies diagnostic tests including FAT, RTCIT, DRIT, RFFIT, FAVN, conventional and realtime PCRs as well as scientific methodologies are established. According to our terms of reference we clarify suspected cases, provide advice to the veterinary authorities and conduct ring trials or carry out similar quality assurance measures for rabies diagnostics for the more than 25 regional veterinary laboratories in Germany.  

 

WHO and OIE mandates

Since 1977 the World Health Organization (WHO) has designated the FLI as Collaborating Centre for Rabies Surveillance and Research.  The development and management of the European Rabies Surveillance Database (www.who-rabies-bulletin.org) as well as the publication of the WHO Rabies Bulletin is a core area of our work here. In 1992 we were also appointed a reference laboratory for the World Organization for Animal Health (OIE).

 

Staff

Facilities and research fields

The BSL-3 diagnostic and experimental facilities are shared with the research group of Stefan Finke, which is mainly conducting basic research on lyssaviruses using sophisticated molecular techniques. There is strong inter-laboratory collaboration between our two groups.    
We are currently coordinating an intramural FLI lyssavirus research network comprising seven individual research projects to be conducted in the next three years. Areas of research range from molecular basics of pathogenicity and virus host-adaptation, adaptive and innate immunity, molecular epidemiology and phylogeny to the development of molecular and pen-side methods. Additionally, we are involved in developing and testing novel approaches for oral immunization of wildlife against rabies.

 

Contact

Dr Thomas Müller (Thomas.Mueller@fli.bund.de)
Dr Conrad Freuling (Conrad.Freuling@fli.bund.de)