FLI

The Friedrich-Loeffler-Institut, Federal Research Institute for Animal Health, (formerly Bundesforschungsanstalt für Viruskrankheiten der Tiere, BFAV) is a public authority affiliated to the German Federal Ministry of Consumer Protection, Food and Agriculture. It performs research in the field of infectious diseases of animals and related fields. Its official tasks include the diagnosis of many foreign animals diseases and the testing and registration of FMD and CSF vaccines, and it functions as national diagnostic reference laboratory for various diseases of animals. It also has official tasks regarding genetically engineered organisms. It is funded by the German government but also receives research grants from various sources.

Dr. Bernd Haas

Med. Vet
Dr. Haas has been the scientist responsible for FMD vaccine testing since 1993. His responsibilities include the diagnosis of viral diseases, import/export testing, testing and registration of FMD vaccines as well as studies on questions of veterinary hygiene. In the field of FMD research, he works on the correlation between serology and protection and also the improvement and validation of diagnostic methods, e.g. PCR, NSP-serology and determination of IgA in saliva. He is a member of the Research Group of the Standing Technical Committee of the European Commission for the Control of Foot and Mouth Disease and was coordinator of the Concerted Action Fair CT 98-4032: Development of improved methods for the diagnosis of foot-and-mouth disease.