ANNEX II
THE EU REFERENCE LABORATORY FOR PUBLIC HEALTH ON VECTOR-BORNE VIRAL PATHOGENS, ITS RESPONSIBILITIES AND TASKS
1. THE CONSORTIUM DESIGNATED AS THE EU REFERENCE LABORATORY FOR PUBLIC HEALTH ON VECTOR-BORNE VIRAL PATHOGENS (HEREINAFTER ‘EURL’)
Consortium led by:
Rijksinstituut voor Volksgezondheid en Milieu, Antonie van Leeuwenhoeklaan 9, 3721 MA Bilthoven, NETHERLANDS
Also composed of:
Institut national de la santé et de la recherche médicale, 101 rue de Tolbiac, 75654 Paris Cedex 13, FRANCE
Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Tritis Septemvriou, Aristotle University Campus, 546 36 Thessaloniki, GREECE
Azienda Ospedale – Università Padova, via Nicolo Giustiniani 1, 35128 Padova PD, ITALY
Univerza v Ljubljani, Kongresni trg 12, SI-1000 Ljubljana, SLOVENIA
2. RESPONSIBILITIES AND TASKS
The EURL shall provide support to national reference laboratories and promote good practice and quality to strengthen public health microbiology in the field of vector-borne viral pathogens.
This includes vector-borne viral diseases caused by flaviviruses (such as dengue virus, Japanese encephalitis virus, tick-borne encephalitis virus, West Nile virus, yellow fever virus, Zika virus), alphaviruses (such as chikungunya virus, Sindbis virus), bunyaviruses (such as Crimean-Congo haemorrhagic fever virus, Rift Valley fever virus, Toscana virus), and arboviruses in other virus families.
The EURL shall provide support to the members of the laboratory networks of the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC)’s European Emerging and Vector-borne Diseases Network (EVD-Net) ( 1 ) on aspects related to diagnostics, testing methods, use of certain tests for the uniform surveillance, notification and reporting of diseases.
For the implementation of the activities under the EURL’s work plan which the EURL shall develop and agree with the ECDC, the EURL shall coordinate the laboratory networks of EVD-Net consisting of the National Focal Points (NFPs) for Emerging and Vector-borne Diseases and the Operational Contact Points (OCPs) for Microbiology relevant for vector-borne viral diseases.
Upon request from the ECDC, the EURL shall participate in relevant ECDC networks and structures. The EURL shall participate in the network of EU reference laboratories that is to be operated and coordinated by the ECDC in accordance with Article 15(3) of Regulation (EU) 2022/2371.
The EURL shall ensure that there is:
—
a sufficient number of qualified staff in relation to the volume of the tasks that the EURL is to carry out in their scope of designation,
—
adequate training of staff for the execution of the tasks of the EURL.
The EURL shall establish its confidentiality policy, including rules for the appropriate secure handling, storage and processing of samples and information, including measures to prevent undue disclosure of confidential information.
The EURL shall be responsible for the following tasks:
(a)
providing reference diagnostic and characterisation services in the field of the EURL to members of the network supported by the EURL, according to the needs defined by this network;
(b)
providing reference materials in the field of the EURL to members of the network supported by the EURL;
(c)
providing external quality assessment schemes for diagnostics and characterisation of selected viruses or virus groups in the field of the EURL to members of the network supported by the EURL, according to the needs defined by this network;
(d)
providing scientific advice and technical assistance in the field of the EURL to members of the network supported by the EURL, according to the needs defined by this network;
(e)
providing technical reports in the field of the EURL, based on literature reviews, expert opinions and/or network surveys;
(f)
providing contributions to ECDC technical reports in the field of the EURL;
(g)
providing scientific and technical assistance to the Commission concerning the EURL’s specific area of public health and in coordination with the ECDC;
(h)
providing information, guidance and support to members of the network supported by the EURL in case of unusual occurrences in the field of the EURL;
(i)
providing information, guidance and support to the ECDC in outbreak situations in the field of the EURL, including providing contributions to ECDC risk assessments;
(j)
organising and delivering training, such as workshops, webinars and wet-lab trainings, in the field of the EURL to members of the network supported by the EURL;
(k)
organising and delivering twinning visits in the field of the EURL for members of the network supported by the EURL;
(l)
ensuring coordination, communication and dissemination with members of the network supported by the EURL and with the ECDC;
(m)
organising laboratory network meetings in the field of the EURL;
(n)
ensuring coordination with other EU reference laboratories in public health and/or in other areas such as feed, food and animal health and/or in vitro medical devices, the World Health Organization (WHO) Collaborating Centres or relevant initiatives in the field of the EURL;
(o)
collaborating, in cooperation with the ECDC, with laboratories in third countries and with the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) and/or the European Medicines Agency (EMA), as relevant;
(p)
providing scientific and technical assistance on other issues relevant to members of the network supported by the EURL.
( 1 ) https://www.ecdc.europa.eu/en/about-ecdc/what-we-do/partners-and-networks/disease-and-laboratory-networks/european-emerging-and.