The FWD AMR-RefLabCap project is based on a network of European national public health reference laboratories in the field of AMR in Salmonella and Campylobacter. The project will provide a range of capacity building activities. The purpose of the FWD AMR-RefLabCap project is to strengthen coordination, support and capacity building in national microbiology reference laboratory functions for testing and surveillance of AMR in Salmonella and Campylobacter in human samples.
To ensure a successful implementation of the project, a network of national public health reference laboratories with a focus on AMR in foodborne pathogens is established.
Well-functioning microbiology reference laboratory services are essential to support the implementation of effective action to combat AMR as set out in the European One-Health Action Plan against Antimicrobial Resistance COM(2017)339 and Decision (EU) 1082/2013 on serious cross-border health threats. The project provides a range of capacity building activities including training, external quality assessment (EQA) schemes, networking activities, and Whole Genome Sequencing establishment support, to improve public health reference laboratory functioning. The aim is to improve laboratory functioning at local, regional and national levels in all countries participating in the EU Health Programme. These activities will complement the ongoing European Centre of Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) activities for AMR surveillance in human Salmonella and Campylobacter infections.
The FWD AMR-RefLabCap project was initiated as a four-year project by the Consumers, Health, Agriculture and Food Executive Agency (CHAFEA; by April 2021 the new Health and Digital Executive Agency (HaDEA) has taken over), on behalf of the Directorate-General for Health and Food Safety (DG SANTE of the European Commission) and in close cooperation with the ECDC. Statens Serum Institut (SSI) and the Technical University of Denmark (DTU) are the contractors of the four-year project (2021-2024). Service Contract No. SC 20197409.
Greece participates in this program as a priority country. It is represented by the Central Public Health Laboratory of the National Public Health Organization and the National Reference Center for Salmonella, Shigella, cholera vibrios, Listeria and other enteropathogens (Reference Center for Salmonella spp-UNIWA)
Project Τitle: Food- and Waterborne Diseases Antimicrobial Resistance – Reference Laboratory Capacity (FWD AMR-RefLabCap) project-ACTION PLAN IMPLEMENTATION FOR CAPACITY BUILDING ON WGS
Project Duration: 4 months
Project URL: https://www.fwdamr-reflabcap.eu/about-fwd-amr-reflabcap
https://www.fwdamr-reflabcap.eu/participants
Project Framework & Funding: 7.494€
Scientific coordinator (UNIWA): GEORGIA D. MANDILARA
Consortium – Partners:
- Statens Serum Institut (SSI)
- Technical University of Denmark (DTU)
- Health and Digital Executive Agency (HaDEA), on behalf of Directorate-General for Health and Food Safety (DG SANTE of the European Commission),in close cooperation with the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control-ECDC
Research Publications / Results / Patents
Polemis, M.; Sideroglou, T.; Chrysostomou, A.; Mandilara, G.D. First Data on WGS-Based Typing and Antimicrobial Resistance of Human Salmonella Enteritidis Isolates in Greece. Antibiotics 2024, 13, 708. https://doi.org/10.3390/antibiotics13080708
“First Data from Whole Genome Sequencing of Clinical Cultures of Monophasic Salmonella Typhimurium 4,[5],12:I: in Greece, 2023”
Michalis Polemis, Georgia Mandilara
10th Panhellenic Conference of the Public Health and Social Medicine Forum, Thessaloniki November 2024. https://www.10publichealthforum.gr/files/AbstractBook.pdf
Paper poster: Enhanced surveillance and outbreak investigation through the use of whole-genome sequencing (WGS) in Greece. Session title: 03b. Resistance surveillance & epidemiology: Healthcare-associated bacteria
Co-Authors: M. Polemis , K. Karadimas , A. Tzoukmani , E. Maikousi , O. Pappa , G. Mandilara. Congress of the European Society of Clinical Microbiology and Infectious Diseases (ESCMID), April 2025, Vienna.
