♦ 30 June 2015 ♦

The presentations of the workshop for rabies 2015 are now online in the private part of the EURL for rabies website. Please remember that only registered scientists of our network can have access to this part of the website. Scientists without access can request an access to the private part via the “register” button and the “Create an account” link.
Further to the workshop for rabies 2015, a report showing statistics and the results of the satisfaction questionnaires is also available online.
 

♦ 01 July 2015 ♦

A total of 45 laboratories participated to the 2015 inter-laboratory test for rabies diagnosis. Results should now all be sent back and online questionnaires filled out.
The data will be analysed during the summer and the report released during the autumn.
 

♦ 06 July 2015 ♦

The Virology section is one of the five sections of the Animal Health Laboratory (AHL) at Veterinary Services of Cyprus. It is accredited since March 2008 to the terms of the ELOT EN ISO/IEC 17025:2005 Standard by  the Hellenic Accreditation System (ESYD) and Cyprus Accreditation Body (CYSAB).

History of rabies and methods

In 1930, two Rabies positive incidents were investigated in imported dogs under quarantine. Since then Rabies has never been diagnosed in domestic animals and wildlife or in humans on the island. Nevertheless, wild carnivores that are found dead, stray dogs caught crossing or roaming along the buffer zone, imported animals dying during the quarantine period or animals with symptoms consistent with rabies infection are always investigated using the methods of FAT and RT-PCR.

Rabies team

The rabies team is consisted of Dr. Apostolos Mazeris (DVM, PhD and head of the Virology section of AHL), Dr. Vasiliki Christodoulou (DVM, PhD) and 3 laboratory technicians:  Maria Nicolaou, Fotini Nicolaou, and Yiota Panayi working on rabies diagnosis and prevention.
 

♦ 01 July 2015 ♦

The EURL informed most of you in the course of June that Fujirebio conjugate and also Millipore anti-rabies conjugates, were in shortage in the US and that you could meet difficulties to purchase Millipore product to replace the Fujirebio conjugate. We are pleased to inform you that the Fujirebio conjugate is now available again. We invite the laboratories to check the working dilution of this new batch to possibly adapt it in order to guarantee a satisfactory detection sensitivity. In case you have questions or meet some problems, you should contact the EURL.
 

♦ 17 June 2015 ♦

The EURL will organize in 2016 a proficiency test based on the rabies antibody detection in wildlife samples. The main objective of this proficiency test will be to have an overview of the performances of the techniques and protocols undertaken by the NRLs to titrate rabies antibodies in wildlife samples. Considering the number of different techniques in use in Europe (cell neutralisation tests and ELISAs), the ultimate objective for the coming years would be to try to get a better harmonisation of results obtained by the NRLs within the European Union Member States. To be able to plan the proficiency test organization and to define properly the panel of samples to be tested and how it will be proceeded in term of financial repartition (depending on the number of labs involved), the EURL sent in June 2015 a call for interest to the NRLs from EU-MS. Any Non-EU NRL that would also be interested in participating to such a proficiency test should contact the EURL.
 

♦ 05 May 2015 ♦

Since 2002 the Austrian NRL for Rabies is settled in the Austrian Agency for Health and Food Safety (AGES), Institute for Veterinary Disease Control (www.ages.at), the former Federal Institute for Veterinary Disease Control.

Tasks

Our main task area is processing of diagnostic samples. We are the only laboratory in Austria performing diagnostic examinations on rabies; antigen- as well as antibody detection.

Staff and outbreak management

Members of three departments are involved in all these examinations. Therefore, in case of a rabies outbreak, enough trained staff will be available.
 

All methods are accredited according ISO 17025 since 2004.

For the examination of “high risk animals” e.g. clinical suspect illegal imported pets a journal service of a veterinarian and a technician on call is organized over the year.
We work in close cooperation with the advisory board for human rabies of AGES, especially concerning human ante mortem diagnosis or recommendation of vaccination.

In case of an outbreak of rabies, the Federal Ministry of Health is responsible for organization of oral vaccination campaigns of foxes and compensation of hunters, representation of Austria in the EC and billing the co-financing of the EU.

Rabies eradication in Austria

At the beginning of the 1990s Austria started a very efficient concerted campaign of oral vaccination of foxes (ORV) Fig.1.

Fig.1.

During these campaigns, two cases of vaccine associated rabies were diagnosed.

During all these years samples from animals submitted for rabies diagnostics, were sampled for other scientific issues e.g. “Presence of Trichinella sp. in the Austrian fox population”, Distribution of Echinococcus multilocularis in the Austrian fox population.

Publications

• Krause, R., Bagó, Z., Revilla-Fernández, S., Loitsch, A., Allerberger, F., Kaufmann, P., Smolle, K.H., Brunner, G., Krejs, G.J. (2005): Travel-associated human rabies in an Austrian man. Emerg. Infect. Dis. 11, 719 – 721.
• Bagó, Z., Revilla-Fernández, S., Allerberger, F., Krause, R. (2005): Value of immunohistochemistry for rapid ante mortem rabies diagnostics. Letter to the editor. Int. J. Infect. Dis. 9, 351 – 352.
• Strauss, R., Gränz, A., Wassermann-Neuhold, M., Krause, R., Bagó, Z., Revilla Fernández, S., Simón-Soria, F.S., Echevarría, J.E., Popow-Kraupp, T., Allerberger, F., Schönbauer, M., Hrabcik, H. (2005): A case of travel-related rabies in Austria, September 2004. Eurosurveillance 10, 225 – 226.
• Fischer M., Wernike K., Freuling C.M., Mü ller T., Aylan O., Brochier B., Cliquet F., Vázquez-Morón S., Hostnik P., Huovilainen A., Isaksson M, Kooi E.A., Mooney J., Turcitu M., Rasmussen T.B., Revilla-Fernández S., Smreczak M, Fooks A.R., Marston D.A., Beer M., Hoffmann B. (2013): Step Forward in Molecular Diagnostics of Lyssaviruses – Results of a Ring Trial among European Laboratories. PLOS ONE, Volume 8 | Issue 3 | e58372
• Mcelhinney L.M., Marston D., Johnson N.,Black C., Matouch O., Lalosevic D., Stankov S., Must K., Smreczak M., Zmudzinski J.F., Botvinkin A., Aylan O., Vanek E., Cliquet F., Müller T., Fooks A.R. (2006): Molecular Epidemiology of Rabies Viruses in Europe Dev.Biol (Basel) 2006, 125, 17-28
• Müller T., Bätza H.-J., Beckert A., Bunzenthal C., Cox H., Freuling C.M., Fooks A. R., Frost J., Geue L.,  Höflechner A., Marston D., Neubert A., Neubert L., Revilla-FernándezS., Vanek E., Vos A., Wodak E., Zimmer K., Mettenleiter T. C. (2009): Analysis of vaccine-virus-associated rabies cases in red foxes (Vulpes vulpes) after oral rabies vaccination campaigns in Germany and Austria, Arch Virol, DOI 10.1007/s00705-009-0408-7

A pdf document is available here.

♦ 05 May 2015 ♦

[Relayed from the OIE]

The 2015 edition of the “OIE from A to Z” is already available. As usual, the “OIE A-Z 2015” can be found online, directly from the homepage of the OIE website.
This new edition presents several novelties which will greatly facilitate your work as decision-makers in the field of animal health and welfare. All the chapters have been updated, and numerous interactive documents and links have been added. We invite you to explore this dedicated website and to discover its different chapters:
•    The general presentation of the Organisation and the role of the representatives of its 180 Member Countries;
•    The Veterinary Services and their role in matters of animal health, public health and animal welfare;
•    The OIE standards applicable in matters of animal health, including zoonosis;
•    The OIE’s World Animal Health Information System: WAHIS/WAHID;
•    The official disease statuses of Member Countries with respect to several priority animal diseases;
•    The OIE’s global scientific network, the central core that enables the OIE to remain at the forefront of world veterinary scientific expertise and successfully carry out its key missions;
•    The OIE Publications chapter, which includes normative texts, serial publications and the proceedings of international conferences, aimed at informing public debate and policy development worldwide.

♦ 22 May 2015 ♦

Congratulations to Latvia!

The Self-declaration by Latvia of freedom from rabies submitted to the OIE on 8 December 2014 by Dr Maris Balodis, Delegate of Latvia to the OIE, Director General, Chief Veterinary Officer, Food and Veterinary Service, Ministry of Agriculture, Riga was recently published on the OIE bulletin No.2015-1. Latvia established a surveillance and eradication programme in wildlife and domestic animals as well as preventive measures (compulsory vaccination of domestic animals, oral vaccination of wildlife and information campaigns). The country has not reported any rabies cases during the past two years and then complies to the conditions to be considered a rabies-free country in accordance with Article 8.12.3. of the Terrestrial Animal Health Code (2014). Related OIE bulletin pages can be consulted here. Congratulations for the hard work done all this latter years!