Abstract
In 2012, the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) initiated external quality assessment (EQA) schemes for molecular typing including the National Public Health Reference Laboratories in Europe. The overall aim for these EQA schemes was to enhance the European surveillance of food-borne pathogens by evaluating and improving the quality and comparability of molecular typing. The EQAs were organised by Statens Serum Institut (SSI) and included Salmonella enterica subsp. enterica, verocytotoxin-producing Escherichia coli (VTEC) and Listeria monocytogenes. Inter-laboratory comparable pulsed-field gel electrophoresis (PFGE) images were obtained from 10 of 17 of the participating laboratories for Listeria, 15 of 25 for Salmonella, but only nine of 20 for VTEC. Most problems were related to PFGE running conditions and/or incorrect use of image acquisition. Analysis of the gels was done in good accordance with the provided guidelines. Furthermore, we assessed the multilocus variable-number tandem repeat analysis (MLVA) scheme for S. Typhimurium. Of 15 laboratories, nine submitted correct results for all analysed strains, and four had difficulties with one strain only. In conclusion, both PFGE and MLVA are prone to variation in quality, and there is therefore a continuous need for standardisation and validation of laboratory performance for molecular typing methods of food-borne pathogens in the human public health sector.
Highlights
Salmonellosis, verocytotoxin-producing Escherichia coli (VTEC) infections and listeriosis are some of the most commonly reported zoonotic diseases within the European Union (EU) [1]
This study presents the results from the first round (2012–2013) of the external quality assessment (EQA) for molecular typing of Salmonella, verocytotoxinproducing Escherichia coli (VTEC) and Listeria monocytogenes in National Public Health Reference Laboratories (NPHR-Ls) in EU/European Economic Area (EEA) countries and EU candidate countries
35 countries were invited to participate in each EQA
Summary
Salmonellosis, verocytotoxin-producing Escherichia coli (VTEC) infections and listeriosis are some of the most commonly reported zoonotic diseases within the European Union (EU) [1]. Since 2006, the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control’s (ECDC) Food- and Waterborne Diseases and Zoonoses (FWD) Programme has been responsible for the EU-wide surveillance of salmonellosis, VTEC infections and listeriosis including the facilitation of the detection and investigation of food-borne outbreaks. Phenotypic parameters of the isolated pathogens are reported by the EU Member States to The European Surveillance System (TESSy) and molecular typing data are reported to the molecular surveillance service within TESSy [2]. One of the principles includes that the use of internationally agreed molecular typing methods is supported by external quality assessment (EQA) schemes to enhance data quality and comparability. For three food-borne pathogens, namely Salmonella, VTEC and Listeria, globally agreed standard molecular typing methods, namely pulsed-field gel electrophoresis (PFGE) and multilocus variable-number tandem repeat analysis (MLVA) [5] enable a comparison with isolates from food/feed and animals
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Schedule a callMore From: Euro surveillance : bulletin Europeen sur les maladies transmissibles = European communicable disease bulletin
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