EURL rabies
Collection of samples, techniques, validation and interpretation of the diagnostic methods for the purposes of rabies surveillance are presented here.
Diagnostic methods considered compliant are presented in the WOAH rabies manual. A list of procedures inspired by the WOAH official methods is also proposed.
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Latvia officially free of rabies
♦ 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!
Annual inter-laboratory test for rabies diagnosis - Year 2015
♦ 1st June 2015 ♦
A panel of 9 brain samples was sent on 1st June to 47 participating laboratories. Please do not forget to send back your results before 1st July and to fill in the online technical questionnaires. Should you encounter any problems with the reception of the parcel or with the application of the test, do not hesitate to contact us. We wish you all a good test!
Workshop for rabies 2015
♦ 27-28 May 2015 ♦
The rabies EURL annual meeting gathered a total of 52 people. Many thanks and all our gratitude to our colleagues from the Croatian Veterinary Institute and to the Veterinary and Food Safety Directorate who made this event possible and successful. We also would like to warmly thank the European Commission and TAIEX for their support for travel and accommodation, as well as all the attendants and speakers for their contribution in this annual date. A Croatian veterinary newspaper article dedicated to this workshop is available here. This meeting gave the opportunity of many exchanges between attendants. As usual, a booklet with the abstracts of the talks was provided to every participant. All presentations will be soon on line in the restricted access part of the website. A photo souvenir is available here. Attendants eligible for the EC financial support have to send their original documents before 12 June.
Croatian National Reference Laboratory for Rabies
♦ 03 April 2015 ♦
The Laboratory for Rabies is one of the three laboratories in the department of virology at Croatian Veterinary Institute. Since 2011 Laboratory is recognized as a National Reference Laboratory for Rabies. The laboratory is also a EU approved laboratory for serological testing regarding rabies in dogs, cats and ferrets in the frame of pets travel. Main laboratory routine activities are connected with rabies surveillance and rabies monitoring programs. Monitoring program is conducted as a part of oral vaccination campaigns which has been started in 2011. During 2014 around 1000 samples have been tested as a part of surveillance program and around 3000 samples as part of monitoring program. The last rabies positive case has been recorded in February 2014.
Methods
In laboratory the following methods are used:
| o | Fluorescence antibody test (FAT), |
| o | Fluorescence virus neutralisation test (FAVN), |
| o | Tissue culture infective test (TCIT), |
| o | Molecular techniques (RT-PCR and QRT-PCR), |
| o | Complete genome sequencing, |
| o | OTC determination, |
| o | Age determination |
| o | Baits titration. |
FAT and FAVN methods are accredited according to ISO17025.
Fields of research
Laboratory Research activities are mainly connected with rabies particularly in the field of Rabies epidemiology and diagnostic techniques. Recently, the research regarding stem cells and viral metagenomic were ongoing.
Staff
The Laboratory represented by six agents is headed by Dr Tomislav Bedeković:
- Ivana Lojkić, Scientist; PhD in molecular biology, Deputy Head
- Nina Krešić, Doctor of Veterinary Medicine
- Ivana Šimić, Doctor of Veterinary Medicine;
- Ines Ugrin, Technician
- Mirjana Frljužec, Technician
Recent rabies publication:
- Bedeković, T., Lemo N, Lojkić I, Mihaljević Z, Jungić A, Cvetnić Z, Cač Z, Hostnik P. (2013). Modification of the fluorescent antibody virus neutralisation test - elimination of the cytotoxic effect for the detection of rabies virus neutralising antibodies. Journal of Virological Methods. 189, 204-208.
- Lojkić, Ivana; Bedeković, Tomislav; Čač, Željko; Lemo, Nina; Cvetnić, Željko (2013). Clinical rabies in cattle imported into Croatia. Veterinary record. 172, 22-23.
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Lojkić, Ivana; Čač, Željko; Bedeković, Tomislav; Lemo, Nina; Brstilo, Mate; Müller, Thomas; Freuling, Conrad M. (2012). Diversity of currently circulating rabies virus strains in Croatia. Berliner und Münchener tierärztliche Wochenschrift. 125, 249-254.