♦ 05 July 2016 ♦

[Taken form the homepage of the Euroreference website]

“The first issue of Euroreference (Journal of Reference) was launched in June 2009 as a free online AFSSA publication in both French and English. The original aim was to facilitate the dissemination of information about refe¬rence activities among stakeholders both at national and European levels. The topics covered included all scientific and technical aspects of analytical methods and their role in surveillance plans and reference-related regulatory issues. As a common forum for members of reference laboratory networks and all the players concerned, it was geared to National and European Reference Laboratories, animal health and food safety diagnostic laboratories, Ministries and decision-makers, directors of institutions, etc. The AFSSA/ ANSES Editorial board was rapidly joined by representatives of CODA-CER¬VA (Belgium), ISS (Italy) then PIWET (Poland).” The new of EuroReference is “co-edited by CODA-CERVA (Belgium), ANSES and SCL (France), BfR and FLI (Germany), ISS, IZSAM and IZSLER (Italy), PIWET (Poland), APHA and FERA (UK) in addition to the EPPO.” A .pdf version of EuroReference can be downloaded on the website.
 

♦ 01 June 2016 ♦

Forty-five participants from the EC Member States and eastern bordering countries as well as international institutions such as FAO, the European Commission and the French Ministry of Agriculture (DGAl) will attend next workshop for for rabies that will be held on 16th June in Strasbourg, France. The provisional agenda has been sent to all participants and is also available on the EURL website (private part only). It includes a discussion on the results of the inter-laboratory tests of rabies diagnosis organised by the EURL in 2015, some key points of the rabies laboratory activities, and an overview of the significant rabies events that occurred in 2015 as well as a focus on the rabies situation in the Balkans and Eastward countries.
 

♦ 30 May 2016 ♦

Samples for this year Inter-laboratory test for rabies were sent on Monday 30 May. The test is composed of a panel of 10 samples to be tested with the chosen technique(s) (FAT, RTCIT, Conventional and/or Real Time RT-PCR) as well as a corresponding online technical questionnaire for each tested technique. Results from participating laboratories have to be sent to the EURL for rabies and online technical questionnaires should be answered before 30 June 2016. A satisfaction questionnaire will be sent after the test to all participants. The report on this test should be issued in October 2016.
 

♦ 04 April 2016 ♦

Latvian National Reference Laboratory
Institute of Food Safety, Animal Health and Environment BIOR (Institute BIOR) - Rīga, Latvia

The Institute of Food Safety, Animal Health and Environment BIOR (Institute BIOR) is the National Reference Laboratory for rabies in Latvia. The Institute BIOR consists of three laboratories situated in Riga (Animal Diseases Diagnostic Laboratory, Laboratory of Food and Environmental Investigations and Medical Microbiology Laboratory) and three Regional laboratories.
Two Divisions of Animal Diseases Diagnostic Laboratory (ADDL) deal with rabies diagnostics and Monitoring of ORV: Virology Division and Pathology Division.

Rabies team

Staff present on 01.04.2016: From the left: Daina Čavare (M.Sc.), Ņina Baranovska, Irina Kaļiņičenko (M.Sc.), Ludmila Soboļeva. On the background: Ieva Rodze(M.Sc.), Zita Muižniece (Dr.biol.) and Svetlana Cvetkova (M.Sc.). Staff missing from the photo: Marianna Dobroštana (PhD student), Veronika Buboviča (Dr.biol.), Jūlija Trofimova (M.Sc.), Marija Bazanova (veterinarian) and Inga Pigiņka-Vjačeslavova (PhD student).

The head of ADDL is Ieva Rodze who coordinates all work for rabies diagnostic in the Laboratory and provides for cooperation with Food and Veterinary Service on rabies surveillance.
Rabies specific diagnostics are carried out mainly in Virology Division. Head of Division is Marianna Dobroštana. In these activities six senior experts and two laboratory technicians from Virology Division are involved.
Two senior experts from Pathology Division perform necroscopy and tetracycline detection in teeth.


Rabies technique

Laboratory techniques used for diagnostic tests in frame of passive surveillance is FAT, RTCIT and conventional hn-RT-PCR (P.R. Heaton et al., 1997), virus genotype sequence analysis.
Serological tests used for vaccination control are FAVN and ELISA.
ORV campaign control is performed by bait titration, serological tests by ELISA (sero-conversion detected by Ab-ELISA) and luminescent microscopy (for tetracycline detection in teeth).
The laboratory is accredited according to ISO 17025 and all rabies laboratory techniques used in BIOR have been accredited.


Latvia rabies status

Latvia has been approved free of rabies since 2015, but vaccination is still carried out close to Latvia’s border with Russia and Belorussia.
Now our main task is monitoring of efficiency of ORV, therefore we examine about 1200 samples (from foxes and racoon dogs) per year. In frame of passive surveillance we examine 200 to 300 samples for virus detection and about 200 serological tests for pet international movement per year.

Since 2013 research work has been started for investigation of rabies status in bat population, that is the subject of our colleague Marianna Dobroštana’s PhD studies.


Contact

Responsible expert - Dr.Zita Muižniece: zita.muizniece@bior.lv
Virology Division
Animal Diseases Diagnostic Laboratory
Institute of Food Safety, Animal Health and Environment BIOR
Lejupes iela 3, Rīga, LV-1076, LATVIA
Website: www.bior.lv

Document in .pdf version

♦ 29 February 2016 ♦

Every year, the EURL is in charge of elaborating a technical report detailing all rabies activities undertaken and their outputs in the frame of the regulations No 737/2008 and 415/2013. The issue for 2016 (report on year 2015) has just been released and is now online on the EURL for rabies website. Consultation is for members of the EURL network only (restricted access).
 

♦ 01 September 2016 ♦

From 1st September 2016, a new model of animal health certificate for pets movements into an EU Member State will have to be used by EU approved Laboratories, in order to avoid further forgery laboratory reports on the results of the rabies antibody titration test following the Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2016/561 of 11 April 2016 amending Annex IV to Implementing Regulation (EU) No 577/2013 as regards the model of animal health certificate for dogs, cats and ferrets moved into a Member State from a territory or a third country for non-commercial purposes.