Surveillance activities of the Sophia Antipolis Laboratory

The Sophia Antipolis laboratory is involved in several different surveillance activities:

Bee health

monitoring of the small hive beetle Aethina tumida since it was introduced in Italy in 2014;
survey on winter mortality in bee colonies: since 2018, the unit has conducted the questionnaire and analyses for the national survey of all beekeepers, in order to confirm the winter mortality and collect beekeepers' opinions on this phenomenon. Since 2020, it has also been responsible for facilitating and coordinating the work;
participation in the surveillance of acute mass mortalities and of diseases listed in the European Animal Health Law;
participation in the Observatory for honeybee colony mortality and weakening (OMAA). The laboratory hosts this observatory's national coordinator.

participation, within the National platform for epidemiological surveillance in animal health (ESA), in the Q fever monitoring group (actions, expert appraisals);
participation, within the ESA platform, in the Q fever veterinary task force on behalf of the Directorate General for Food, during alerts of human cases or critical situations in sites open to the public;
participation in the Observatory for monitoring the causes of abortions in ruminants (OSCAR);
contribution to the development of a web application for interpreting serological tests according to the ruminant species and epidemiological context.