National Reference Center for Mycobacteria
Medical Head of NRZ
Scientific Head
Office / Requests for test results
Staff scientists / external quality assessments
Laboratory manager / Accounting
PhD students
Technical Staff
Mission
The National Reference Center, appointed by the Federal Ministry of Health and the Robert Koch Institute, participates in the coordination of measures in the fight against and the surveillance of tuberculosis (TB).
- National Reference Center (NRC) for Mycobacteria
- Supranational Reference Laboratory (SRL) of WHO
The activities of the Reference Center comprise the following domains:
- Diagnostics: Examination of approximately 12,000 samples per year for the detection and identification of mycobacteria as well as for susceptibility testing
- Epidemiology: DNA fingerprinting for the discovery of infection chains in order to improve control measures
- Development, improvement, and evaluation of new techniques for a more rapid diagnosis of TB
- Advisory service for diagnostic laboratories and physicians. The consultation comprises inquiries on the epidemiology, diagnostics, and therapy of TB
- Training: Approximately 100 guests annually are trained in all fields of TB diagnostics.
- Expert for INSTAND EQA for tuberculosis
- Consultant: among others for WHO, Médecins sans frontières (MSF), International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), Foundation for Innovative New Diagnostics (FIND), "Kreditanstalt fuer Wiederaufbau" (KfW, "German loan bank for reconstruction"), and KNCV Tuberculosis Foundation with activities in the following countries: Armenia, Azerbaijan, Bosnia-Herzegowina, Croatia, India, Kazakhstan, Kyrghysztan, Pakistan, Russia, Serbia, Slovenia, Southern Sudan, Turkmenistan, Uganda, and Uzbekistan.
Documetation-Video of the National Reference Center
Diagnostic service
- Primary isolation of mycobacteria with liquid and solid media from all specimens
- Detection of mycobacteria by means of nucleic acid amplification methods from all specimens (exception: venous blood and bone marrow)
- Differentiation of mycobacteria by molecular techniques
- Susceptibility testing of all mycobacteria species in liquid and on solid media. Genetic detection of mutations associated with resistance against INH and RMP.
- DNA analyses (IS6110 DNA fingerprinting, spoligotyping, MIRU) for the comparison of tuberculosis bacteria isolates, for example in the case of a suspected laboratory cross contamination
Download
- Referral forms
Please fill the form with type write to enable OCR scan reading
Information on tuberculosis
- Division of Mycobacteriology at the FZB
- Tuberkulose Fact Sheet der WHO
- STOP TB homepage
- Robert Koch-Institut
- INSTAND
- American Thoracic Society
- Centers for Disease Control
- European Society of Mycobacteriology
- Euzéby: List of Mycobacteria with Standing in Nomenclature
Nationales Referenzzentrum
Parkallee 38
23845 Borstel