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Reference Laboratory for Escherichia coli, including Shiga toxin-producing E. coli (EURL-VTEC)

Published 03/01/2021 - Edited 05/03/2024

European Union Reference Laboratory for Escherichia coli, including Shiga toxin-producing E. coli (EURL-VTEC)

Welcome to the official website of the European Union Reference Laboratory (EURL) for Escherichia coli, including Shiga toxin-producing E. coli (EURL-VTEC), hosted by the Istituto Superiore di Sanità. The EURL-VTEC website is a mean to disseminate information to the National Reference Laboratories (NRLs) for E. coli network but is also meant to be a source of references to the laboratories dealing with pathogenic E. coli detection and control worldwide. Lastly, this website serves as a portal for the access to the services offered by EURL-VTEC .

The Istituto Superiore di Sanità was designated as Reference Laboratory for STEC by the European Commission on July the 1st, 2006 (Commission Regulation 776/2006).

The EURL-VTEC mainly focuses its activity on STEC and other pathogenic E. coli infections that have either a foodborne or a zoonotic origin. Starting from 2019, the role of Reference Laboratory for the tasks related with the presence and enumeration of E. coli in Live Bivalve Molluscs was appointed to the EURL-VTEC, following the closure of the European Union reference laboratory for monitoring the viral and bacteriological contamination of bivalve molluscs in the UK due to the BREXIT. This transfer is ratified with the EU Regulation 222/2018.

The EURL-VTEC is integrated into the Unit of Foodborne diseases, which has been accredited as part of the Food safety, nutrition and Veterinary Public Health Department since December 2007 by ACCREDIA, the Italian accreditation body, according to the ISO/IEC 17025 international standard. The accreditation (certificate No. 0779 L) refers both to fixed and flexible scope of accreditation (list of accredited tests available in Italian at Complete schedule of accreditation of ACCREDIA) and certifies the technical competence of the laboratory to perform specific analytical methods.