This report describes the first external quality assurance (EQA) scheme on typing of Salmonella subspecies, organised for the laboratories of the Food- and Waterborne Diseases and Zoonoses network by ECDC.
ECDC promotes the performance of external quality assessment (EQA) schemes, in which laboratories are sent simulated clinical specimens or bacterial isolates for testing by routine or reference laboratory methods. EQA schemes, or laboratory proficiency testing, provide information about the accuracy of different characterisation and typing methods as well as antimicrobial susceptibility testing (AST) and the sensitivity of the methods in place to detect a certain pathogen or novel resistance patterns.