To improve and harmonize monitoring and genotyping methods within Europe, sharing of feedback from all the partners will be coordinated, starting with an initial situation evaluation and ending with the generation of SOPs from WP1-4 in order to:
- Establish guidelines for active and passive monitoring of Q fever, by assuring standardized and good quality data when assessing the epidemiological situation in ruminant farms (main reservoirs), but also during abortive outbreaks and for surveillance in other reservoirs and sources;
- Propose a workflow from the collection of positive samples of interest to the genetic characterization of strains, incorporating the use of new isolation and sequence typing methods;
- Improve or develop a harmonized database on genetic information of strains; and
- Carry out a proof-of-concept experiment in each partner country to validate the feasibility and efficacy of the “prototype” Pan-European monitoring and genotyping network.
WP5 Leads
Dr. Elodie Rousset
Elodie is head of National reference laboratory for Q-Fever and deputy head of the Animal Q-Fever unit at ANSES, France. Her work focuses on the characterisation, surveillance and epidemiology of Coxiella burnetii.
Dr. Marcella Mori
Marcella is a molecular microbiologist and heads the Bacterial Zoonoses Unit at Sciensano, Brussels. She directs two National Reference Centres (Coxiella burnetii and Brucella spp.) for human health and multiple National Reference Laboratories for animals. Her research interests include enhancing animal diagnostics for C. burnetii and studying immune responses to improve disease control strategies.
