June 06, 2025
Bulletin interne de l'Institut Pasteur
Two Institut Pasteur research units designated as European Union Reference Laboratories
The Institut Pasteur is pleased to announce that two research units, "Lyssavirus, Epidemiology and Neuropathology" and "Biodiversity and Epidemiology of Bacterial Pathogens," have been designated as European Union Reference Laboratories (EURLs).
The first European Union Reference Laboratories for public health became operational on January 1, 2025. They will 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).
• EU Reference Laboratory for Emerging, Rodent-borne and Zoonotic Viral Pathogens
The Lyssavirus, Epidemiology and Neuropathology research unit, led by Hervé Bourhy, to which the National Reference Center for Rabies and the WHOCC for Rabies are affiliated, is a member of the consortium of EU Reference Laboratories for public health in the field of emerging, rodent-borne and zoonotic viral pathogens (EURL-PH-ERZV).
The aim of EURL-PH-ERZV is to help EU Member States improve their preparedness and response to high-risk viral pathogens that represent a public health problem. EURL-PH-ERZV is coordinated by the Public Health Agency of Sweden and implemented by a consortium composed of the Italian National Institute for Infectious Diseases, the Hungarian National Center for Public Health and Pharmacy, and the Institut Pasteur.
EURL-PH-ERZV's activities will involve coordinating and managing the consortium, communicating and disseminating information, supplying diagnostics and reference materials, performing external quality assessment (EQA) and running training and twinning programs. The consortium will also offer support during disease outbreaks and contribute to the development of technical reports.
Find out more about EURL-PH-ERZV
• EU Reference Laboratory for Diphtheria and Pertussis
The Biodiversity and Epidemiology of Bacterial Pathogens research unit, led by Sylvain Brisse, to which the two National Reference Centers for Diphtheria and for Whooping Cough (Pertussis) are affiliated, is a member of the EU Reference Laboratory for public health in the field of diphtheria and pertussis (EURL-PH-DIPE).
The consortium, coordinated by the University of Turku in Finland, includes four EU members: the Institut Pasteur, the Belgian public health institute, the Vrije Universiteit Brussel (Belgium) and the Bavarian State Office for Health and Food Safety (Germany).
The aim of EURL-PH-DIPE is to increase the European Union's ability to respond to the health threats of diphtheria and whooping cough, two infectious diseases that can be severe in children and have seen a resurgence in recent years. EURL-PH-DIPE will develop and harmonize the response and alert capabilities of laboratories in Member States, improve surveillance, harmonize diagnostic methods and techniques for detecting antibiotic resistance, provide expertise for the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) and a network of national reference centers, and offer training in these fields, especially in analyzing the genome sequence data of the two pathogens Corynebacterium diphtheriae and Bordetella pertussis.
The EURL will provide a rapid response to whooping cough and diphtheria outbreaks at the local and international level. These two infections can be prevented by vaccination, with boosters recommended in adults but rarely taken up, and a Europe-wide seroprevalence study of whooping cough, diphtheria and tetanus antibodies will also be carried out.