Objectives

The National Reference Centre for Brucellosis has the following general objectives:

• Producing reagents and diagnostics to diagnose brucellosis.
• Checking the standardization of antigens and of the kits used on the National territory.
• Typing of strain isolates from other veterinary immunology centres.
• Organizing interlaboratory circuits and informing participants on the results through final reports and seminars.
• Evaluating national and international protocols to validate diagnostic methods and proposing alternative protocols, if necessary.
• Developing new diagnostic methods and/or improving those existing, evaluating their performance in terms of sensitivity, specificity, accuracy, repeatability, reproducibility under controlled conditions and on field, also by organizing interlaboratory circuits. Proposing their adoption on the National and International level and spreading them on the National territory.

The NRC is also engaged into:

• Counselling and supporting the Ministry of Health in the management and control of bovine, buffalo, sheep and goat brucellosis eradication plans.
• Managing information systems implemented to control bovine, buffalo, sheep and goat brucellosis eradication plans and issuing an on-line reporting system available on the website of NRCB.
• Together with COVEPI, organizing training courses for the veterinaries involved in the brucellosis eradication plans.
• Participating to the activities proposed by the Community Reference Laboratory (ANSES – Paris).
• Implementing the activities scheduled within National research projects.