EURL for Public Health on High-risk, Emerging and Zoonotic Bacterial pathogens
The EU Reference Laboratory for Public Health on "High-risk, Emerging and Zoonotic Bacterial pathogens" (EURL-PH-HEZB) is, as of 1 January 2025, one of the new designated EU Reference Laboratories for Public Health (EURL). It is led by a consortium coordinated by the Robert Koch Institute’s unit ZBS 2 "Highly Pathogenic Microorganisms".
Website
Visit the EURL-PH-HEBZ website
Objectives
The EURL-PH-HEZB covers emerging and zoonotic bacterial pathogens including Bacillus anthracis (anthrax), Yersinia pestis (plague), Francisella tularensis (tularaemia), Brucella spp. (brucellosis), Burkholderia mallei (glanders), Burkholderia pseudomallei (melioidosis), Coxiella burnetii (Q fever), Rickettsia spp. (rickettsiosis), Borrelia spp. (neuroborreliosis) and Leptospira spp. (leptospirosis).
It supports national reference laboratories to promote good practice and voluntary alignment among Member States on diagnostics and testing methods, enabling uniform surveillance, notification and reporting of serious cross-border health threats and ensuring EU-level data comparability.
Project summary
As the human population faces emerging infectious threats, the EURL-PH-HEZB, under ECDC guidance, aims to strengthen national laboratories and support harmonised surveillance and reporting of relevant diseases and agents. By promoting good practices in the network, the project enhances rapid, coordinated responses in line with the ECDC reporting system. It contributes to the implementation of Regulation (EU) 2022/2371 on serious cross-border threats to health, replacing Decision No 1082/2013/EU, Article 15. To ensure efficiency and avoid duplication, the EURL collaborates with other EURLs and public health initiatives. External quality assessment, shared reference materials, and targeted training and twinning ensure strong laboratory performance, diagnostics and bio-risk management, while encouraging voluntary alignment.
Consortium partners
The EURL-PH-HEZB consortium is coordinated by the Robert Koch Institute and includes the Bundeswehr Institute of Microbiology, Germany, the Public Health Agency of Sweden and the Instituto Nacional de Saúde Doutor Ricardo Jorge, Portugal.
Contact
Contact the EURL-PH-HEBZ at the Public Health Agency of Sweden by email: fohm.eurl.ph.hezb@folkhalsomyndigheten.se.
Funded by the European Union. Views and opinions expressed are however those of the author(s) only and do not necessarily reflect those of the European Union or the European Health and Digital Executive Agency. Neither the European Union nor the granting authority can be held responsible for them.