The Institut Pasteur is pleased to announce that the Molecular Mechanisms of Multiplication of Pneumoviruses Unit, led by Marie-Anne Rameix-Welti, has been designated as a member of a European Union Reference Laboratory (EURL) and named as a World Health Organization Collaborating Center (WHO-CC).
 
The first European Union Reference Laboratories for public health became operational on January 1, 2025. They support national laboratories in improving and aligning practices, promote coordinated methods in the areas of diagnostics and surveillance, and facilitate the notification of and response to cross-border health threats, in conjunction with the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC).
 
As announced on December 16 in the Official Journal of the European Union, the Molecular Mechanisms of Multiplication of Pneumoviruses Unit, to which the National Reference Center (CNR) for Respiratory Infections is affiliated, is now a member of the consortium that composes the European Union Reference Laboratory for public health on respiratory viruses. Coordinated by the Erasmus University Medical Center (Netherlands), the consortium is also composed of the National Institute for Public Health and the Environment (Netherlands), Charité University Hospital (Germany), Aristotle University of Thessaloniki (Greece), Statens Serum Institut (Denmark), Instituto Nacional de Saúde Doutor (Portugal), Robert Koch-Institut (Germany) and the Institut Pasteur.

The aim of the EURL for respiratory viruses is to boost the European Union's capacity to respond to the health threats represented by respiratory viruses, especially the influenza virus (seasonal, emerging/pandemic and human infections with zoonotic influenza), SARS-CoV-2 and respiratory syncytial virus (RSV). To this end, it will develop and harmonize diagnostics and testing for surveillance and notification and reporting of diseases, and will provide expertise to the ECDC and national reference centers to improve preparedness, rapid detection and response to health threats.
 

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 “This is a wonderful recognition of the expertise of the teams of the CNR “respiratory virus”, confirming the importance of our work in monitoring and combating respiratory viruses.

We are proud to join this European network and to contribute actively to it, strengthening our expertise and international collaboration to improve our preparedness for health threats."

Marie-Anne Rameix-Welti

Read the decision in the Official Journal of the European Union