Infokiri

Solna Folkhälsomyndigheten, SE-171 82 Solna. Street address: Nobels väg 18. Östersund Folkhälsomyndigheten, Box 505, 831 26 Östersund.

Street address: Campusvägen 20. +46 10-205 20 00, [email protected], www.folkhalsomyndigheten.se

Recipient

Director General Health Board 10617 Tallinn, Estonia

Administrative Official

Johan Aarum

Date

6 augusti 2024

Page

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Information about the planned

refurbishment of the BSL3/4 laboratories at

the Public Health Agency of Sweden

Dear colleagues,

Thank you for your continued confidence in using us as your primary facility for

the analysis of high consequence pathogens. This is an important commitment that

serve to strengthen our joint preparedness against potential biological threats to

human health in our part of Europe.

The BSL3 and 4 laboratories at PHAS was commissioned in 2002 and, although

still well-functioning, now needs refurbishment to secure continual operation at the

highest standard. To allow for this, the BSL3 and 4 facilities at PHAS will be

closed from August 2024 with an expected re-opening date of May 31 2025. We

will duly notify you should there be any changes in the time-plan.

During this period, PHAS will continue to honour our agreement in full with regard

to diagnostic analysis, confirmatory analysis and more in-depth analysis if

required. This means that you can continue to send samples to PHAS. To secure

the proper analysis of all samples, including downstream investigations of samples

that becomes positive, PHAS has contracted other facilities that will complement

our analysis if needed. PHAS will cover all extra costs arising from the use of such

contracted facilities, including shipment- and analysis costs.

Additional information

At the end of 2023 ECDC announced the formation of the initial six European

Reference Laboratories (EURLs). PHAS is happy to inform you that we will

coordinate the EURL for Emerging, rodent-borne and zoonotic viral pathogens

(EU4H-2023-DGA-MS-IBA-02-03) and participate in the EURL for High-risk,

emerging and zoonotic bacterial pathogens (EU4H-2023-DGA-MS-IBA-02-04),

the latter coordinated by our partner Robert Koch Institute in Germany. Part of

your agreed services with us will be covered by the newly formed EURLs, planned

Page 2 (2)

Solna Folkhälsomyndigheten, SE-171 82 Solna. Street address: Nobels väg 18. Östersund Folkhälsomyndigheten, Box 505, 831 26 Östersund.

Street address: Campusvägen 20. +46 10-205 20 00, [email protected], www.folkhalsomyndigheten.se

to be operational in the first quarter of 2025. This includes, for example,

diagnostics of agent X. However, we would like to stress that in our current

bilateral agreements we offer a considerably higher and more timely preparedness

than what will be provided through the EURLs. We therefor hope that you see our

continued cooperation around this as important, not the least in view of our joint

Nordic/Scandinavian preparedness against biological threats. In this regard, we will

be in contact with you again closer to the re-opening of our BSL3 and 4 facilities to

initiate discussions around renewal of our current agreements and possibilities to

strengthen our cooperation further.

Meanwhile, please do not hesitate to contact us should you have any questions or

thought concerning the above.

Yours sincerely,

Johan Aarum

Head of Unit for Diagnostic Preparedness of Notifiable and High Consequence

Pathogens

Public Health Agency of Sweden

+4610-205 21 77

[email protected]