Sernapesca designates “National Reference Laboratory”as IFOP Microbiology Laboratory
April 12th, 2021
According to N° DN 00518/2021 exempt resolution, Fisheries and Aquaculture National Service, designated IFOP Microbiology Laboratory of Hydrobiological Health Department as “National Reference Laboratory”.
Sergio Contreras Lynch, IFOP’s Hydrobiological Health Department Head referred to the nomination “In Sanitary Regulations for Aquaculture (RESA), it establishes that National Fisheries and Aquaculture Service (Sernapesca) will implement one or more National Reference Laboratories for hydrobiological species diseases diagnosis. Being able to differentiate them according to their specialty and experience.
In our case, the designation is associated with the Antimicrobial Susceptibility in Salmoniculture General Surveillance Program, where our Department has generated extensive experience working in susceptibility evaluation of bacterial pathogens of importance in aquaculture, against the most widely used antimicrobials in this sector.
Among other responsibilities, the microbiology laboratory and its team must continue with antimicrobial susceptibility evaluation and standardization of evaluation techniques of bacterial agents prioritized by the authority, confirm and compare obtained evaluation results by diagnostic laboratories when required; to organize and implement training in these matters for professionals who work in diagnostic laboratories, to coordinate comparative tests; to organize interlaboratory rounds, having to report their results to the Service; among others”.
Contreras also explained “This designation is a recognition of the work carried out by the Hydrobiological Health Department, which has worked on this research line since 2007, through different researchs and programs.
This task was consolidated through permanent research program execution, called ” Surveillance of pathogens resistance to national salmon farming commonly used antimicrobials”, which during 2021 has already begun its stage VIII, and which is financed by the Ministry of Economy and Fisheries and AquacultureUndersecretariat.
This milestone for our team not only fills us with pride as a Department, but also in my role as a researcher, since this has been my research line for years. It should also be mentioned trust and vision that our Undersecretariat colleagues granted us in our team when we proposed to start this strategic research line for the country and sector, a process that has been consolidated today, so it is also their achievement ” .
Marcela Lara, Sernapesca’s Aquaculture sub Director pointed out that the Microbiology Laboratory designation “is also a recognition to the good work performed by this institution for a long time and has highly qualified personnel for this task. For Sernapesca, it is vital to have the widest possible network of reference laboratories, which allows us to confirm detections in a timely and accurate manner, and thus better safeguard the sanitary status of our country ”.
Luis Parot Donoso IFOP Executive Director indicated “Sernapesca designation grants us a source of pride. And it shows our professionals and technicians high performance level, many of them with master’s and PhD, with two university degrees, with permanent national and international training, as well as world-renowned scientific journals publications. The Microbiology laboratory has a field group for sampling in cultivation centers, a technologists team who process and perform both microbiological and molecular biology analyzes and professionals who prepare reports and perform data analysis, working in total between 8 and 10 people depending on committed activities ”.