Reference activities of the Lyon Laboratory

The Lyon Laboratory has the following reference mandates:

• national Reference Laboratory for transmissible spongiform encephalopathies (TSEs) in animals (bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE) and scrapie). Its roles are to:
  • develop, optimise, approve and implement reference techniques for confirming first-line diagnoses and for the molecular typing of the prions involved in these diseases;
  • conduct research into this topic;
  • coordinate the network of approved laboratories for the diagnosis of animal TSEs;
  • organise inter-laboratory proficiency testing campaigns;
  • store TSE reference materials and make them available to approved laboratories;
  • respond to requests for scientific and technical support, primarily with respect to the reallocation of TSE facilities in approved laboratories (biosafety measures following a suspension of activity or co-activity);
  • carry out batch controls for one of the screening tests on behalf of the European Union Reference Laboratory for TSEs.
• reference Laboratory without a mandate for contagious bovine pleuropneumonia (CBPP) and contagious caprine pleuropneumonia (CCPP). It mainly carries out its activities in France, but it can also receive requests from European partners;
• reference Laboratory without a mandate for resistance to pesticides;
  In this framework, the laboratory is involved in the annual “Resistance” surveillance plans of the Ministry of Agriculture, which study and monitor the resistance of plant pests to plant protection products.
• coordination of the mandate as Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) Reference Centre for antimicrobial resistance. The aim of this Reference Centre is to assist FAO in implementing its programme for the global control of antimicrobial resistance.