Seminar of the NRL on Listeria monocytogenes

On the 10^th and 11^th of December 2012 the seminar "National Reference Laboratory for Listeria monocytogenes" took place at the Sporting Hotel in Teramo. Several representatives from both the "Istituti Zooprofilattici Sperimentali" network and the Italian Ministry of Health participated to the event.

During the meeting, an overview was given of all current activities and future perspectives of the National Reference Laboratory for Listeria monocytogenes (NRL), of which Teramo Institute is centre of excellence since 2007.   Among the speakers we name dr Adrien Assere form the European Reference Laboratory for Listeria monocytogenes, dr. Giusi Amore from the EFSA (European Food Safety Authority) and prof. Michael Mullan from the College of Agriculture, Food and Rural Enterprise of Northern Ireland.

The seminar ranged from the description of more recent research activities carried out by the NRL, to the results of both National and European monitoring programmes, to the study of environment and product contamination applying molecular biology techniques, to the development of IT tools and of innovative strategies for pathogen control using bacteriophages.