Since 1st of January the Laboratory for rabies is authorized laboratory by the European Commission (Official Journal of the European Union, 6.12.2012: COMMISSION IMPLEMENTING DECISION of 4 December 2012 authorising a laboratory in the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia to carry out serological tests to monitor the effectiveness of rabies vaccines) for testing of antibody titer in dogs, cats and ferrets with the FAVN test. The test is conducted for the purpose of travelling (or control of the postvaccinal titer) of the mentioned pets. The obtained result from our laboratory is valid in all European Union member states.
The Laboratory for Rabies (Veterinary Institute – Faculty of Veterinary medicine in Skopje) conducts rabies diagnostic analysis with fluorescent antibody test (FAT) and virus isolation (RTCIT). Besides that the vaccination efficacy of the foxes is assessed by biomarker detection (tetracyclin) in fox teeth as an indicator of bate uptake in the framework of oral vaccination of foxes for rabies.
For all these methods, the laboratory regularly participates in the Proficiency testing organized by the European Union Reference laboratory (ANSES-EURL for rabies, Nancy, France) with excellent results. The FAT and the biomarker detection method are accredited according ISO 17025.