EU policies to ensure food safety are based in finding effective and integrated solutions and developing better ways of assuring microbiological security in food, in this context, an essential aspect to ensure food safety is the performance of quality based analytical controls. The European Regulation for the microbiological criteria (2073/2005 and modifications) is aimed for the harmonization in most aspects of safety and health regulations within Europe, establishing safety criteria and reference official methods for testing . This regulation clearly states the need of proficiency in the performance of the analysis and as consequence testing laboratories need to adopt actions for their recognition by official bodies and entities.The implementation and the maintenance of the ISO/IEC 17025 quality assurance system in a laboratory requires of technical competence to achieve all the necessary milestones in the areas of management; training of technicians; equipment certification; systematic for methods validation and extensive documentation. The drawbacks of developing and maintaining an efficient quality assurance system, such as the time-consuming efforts, the increased expenses and the bureaucracy, impair laboratories from achieving this goal and in most cases the process is elongated from what was originally planned, increasing costs and postponing the benefits achieved by the accreditation or recognition of the laboratory proficiency.MicroQLab main objective is to develop an innovative E-learning programme on Quality Systems for food microbiological laboratories, providing knowledge acquisition and specialisation in the analytical area of food microbiology.As it has been expressed by the EU commission, there is an important need to modernize higher education and quality in VET, in order to keep up with the globalization and technological developments all over Europe. MicroQLab attends to the need of professional development for staff in line with industry and organization needs and objectives, that requires more and more, higher level of quality in their results.The methodology for obtaining the course will be first conducting a Needs Analysis at a European level, to access the level of difficulty encountered by laboratory workers when facing the implementation of a Quality System in their laboratories. This information will be analysed to obtain the specific contents of the course. In a second stage, the design of an E-learning programme will be created in an open platform, interactive and attractive for the user and before the release there will be a third stage in which a pilot study will be done with trainees from different parts of Europe, in order to evaluate the adequacy, acceptance and to implement corrections before obtaining the final version. MicroQLab will use the latest ICT tools, making more modern, attractive and flexible the process of learning, adapted to today’s preferences for the youth.The course will be presented in modules that can be obtained independently so, making even more flexible for the trainees the knowledge acquisition, with interactive exercises, practical situations that will prepare then better to apply the methods learnt in a real situation. The learning process will be aid with virtual laboratories, presenting scenarios with a particular situation (e.g. evaluation of a calibration equipment). Other audiovisual elements, such as videos and games, will encourage the trainee to complete the course.The main impact of MicroQLab, for the target groups, will be the access to a more efficient and cost-effective way of implementing a quality system in a laboratory in the analytical area of food microbiology. This will improve skills and qualifications to facilitate personal development and employability for trainees that are seeking for jobs and need to acquire practical competence to access to the labour market The course will be also very beneficial for the trainees that are already working and need the acquisition of new knowledge and skills to achieve new responsibilities in the work place, allowing to have competence in new areas that are every time more in demand. These trainees will benefit saving time and efforts when confronted to the tasks involved in the implementation of a quality system, making then more motivated and satisfied at their jobs.For the stakeholder the impact of MicroQLab will be also important and can be measured by the improvement of the competitiveness of the food sector by building the abilities of employees to better practices in food control, assurance of quality and increasing growth and internationalization.Apart from the benefits obtained by the target groups, long term result of the project can be envisaged by the transference of the concept and methodology to other sectors and by transferring the course to new or existing VET or University courses for their official recognition to public curriculum.

The global emergence of highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) viruses and the subsequent adaptation to wild birds has resulted in record mortality of wild birds and poultry and is developing into an enzootic threat for wildlife, poultry and human health in Europe. The ongoing evolution of HPAI viruses is expanding their geographical distribution and host range. To deal with this global problem, KAPPA-FLU brings together top experts from Europe, North America and Asia. The overall objective of KAPPA-FLU is the characterization of key viral, host-related and environmental factors that determine the maintenance and the long-distance spread of HPAI viruses in wild birds, with the goal of improving capacities for risk-based surveillance, prevention and control of HPAI in poultry and wildlife, and its potential impact on human health. KAPPA-FLU will follow three research themes. Theme A (Disease ecology) provides a deep understanding of the population dynamics of HPAI viruses in migratory waterbirds and spill-over hosts, both resident wildlife and poultry, through risk-based surveillance strategies, and accounting for the impact of climate change. Theme B (Virology) studies the evolution of HPAI viruses in wild birds and poultry and the resulting increasing risk to humans and other mammals. Based on the above results, theme C (Agro-ecosystem risk) identifies and models prevention and control strategies (including vaccination) using machine learning algorithms. Actors from different sectors of society will, through the Multi-Actor Panel, play key roles in translating results into policy and practice. In this way, KAPPA-FLU will make stepwise advances in knowledge of the population dynamics and evolution of HPAI, and thus contribute to a sustainable poultry production system and improved public health.

Culicoides biting midges (Diptera: Ceratopogonidae) are currently the most important biological vectors of livestock arboviruses in Europe. Outbreaks of bluetongue virus (BTV) and Schmallenberg virus (SBV) continue to have a significant economic impact through clinical disease and the imposition of animal trade movement restrictions. At least three Culicoides-borne viruses recently identified in Europe possess an unknown origin, hence future outbreaks involving described or undescribed strains or species of Culicoides-borne viruses have a high potential of occurring in the future. These viruses could include further incursions of known arboviruses (including additional species of Culicoides-borne arboviruses such as African horse sickness or Epizootic Haemorhagic Disease Virus) or as yet undescribed species with an unknown pathogenicity to livestock or humans. In this project we will dissect Culicoides vector-arbovirus relationships across multiple ecosystems and species and in unprecedented detail to provide data useful for both defining risk of incursion and subsequent spread. Using newly developed methods to blood-feed Culicoides viruses of epidemiological interest, we will assess barriers associated with vector competence that may underlie restrictions to arbovirus movement in Europe. The fundamental genetic drivers determining vector competence in Culicoides will then be explored using genomic techniques to identify panels of candidate genes influencing this process. Following identification, comparative genomics will identify species specific differences in panels which will be examined across ecosystems in Northern and Southern Europe. In addition, we will also examine the virome of European Culicoides of veterinary importance as a potential influence on vector competence and as a means of understanding how viral diversity within populations can be used to infer risk of outbreak. Using metagenomic analyses we will examine viromes from Culicoides populations across the participating countries that have already been the subject of targetted sampling for surveillance purposes. We expect this to reveal for the first time the true diversity of viruses present within Culicoides and to begin to untangle their role in the epidemiology of pathogenic virus transmission, opening a new field of research for animal virus vectors.