The laboratory provides a range of microbiological services to assess the security of the food chain for the protection of Public Health through both Statutory and Research surveillance.

The new laboratory at Inniscara contains a full specification Category 3 facility which is used for testing high risk pathogens such as verocytotoxigenic E. coli.

The overall objective as part of the Operational and Service Plans of the Veterinary Section is to achieve INAB Status (ISO17025) and to establish a Centre of Excellence for emerging pathogens.

Statutory Surveillance

Passive and active surveillance procedures and process hygiene checks are carried out at slaughter houses and meat processing premises in accordance with the terms and conditions of the Service Contract between the Food Safety Authority of Ireland (FSAI) and Cork County Council.(CCC)

As part of this contract microbiological testing is carried out in accordance with Commission Regulation (EC) 2073/2005 (amended by Commission Regulation (EC) No. 1441/2007) on cooked meats, meat products, raw meat, poultry, milk, water and carcase swabs sampled from food business operators within the county.

The laboratory has developed a particular specialisation for emerging pathogens which include Salmonella, Verocytotoxigenic E. coli, Campylobacter, Listeria and Staphylococcus aureus.

All isolates recovered are characterised phenotypically to determine antimicrobial resistance profiles and genotypically by pulsed-field gel electrophoresis (PFGE) or multiple-locus variable-number of tandem repeat analysis (MLVA). All results are entered into our Bionumerics Library to enable future comparative analysis of human, animal and environmental isolates.

This information is essential to establish vital epidemiological linkages to assist with human disease Outbreak Investigations.

Internal and External Quality Assessment Systems are an integral component of the laboratory procedures. External Quality Assessment 'Ring Trial Testing' is organised by the Dept. of Agriculture and Food on an annual basis. This Assessment examines the ability of the laboratory to detect and isolate Salmonella species.

Contact Details:

Name Position Phone No.

Mary Murphy Senior Executive Scientist 021-4532739

Liz O'Connor Lab Technician Grade 1 021-4532738

Lisa Forristal Lab Technician Grade 1 021-4532721

Carmel King Lab Technician 021-4532784

Thelma Christian Lab Technician 021-4532721

Triona O'Friel Lab Technician 021-4532721

Derena McCarthy Clerical Officer 021-4532738

Dr. Brenda Murphy Research Scientist 021-4532742

The Laboratory services are being developed through a partnership approach involving collaborations with primary food producers, higher education authorities, national competent authorities and research institutions. The laboratory is an active multi disciplinary involved projects with the following which enables technology transfer, rapid response, educational exchange and provides a support infrastructure for food business operations through a Partnership Approach;

Central Veterinary Research Laboratory-DAFF
National Salmonella Reference Laboratory-Galway.
Food Safety Authority of Ireland.
Centres for Food Safety and Foodborne Zoonomics, UCD
Colindale Public Health Laboratory-UK
Dept. of Biological Sciences-CIT
Faculty of Food Science-Queens University Belfast.
Dept. of Food Science and Technology-UCC
School of Veterinary Medicine-UCD
Ashtown Food Research Centre, Teagasc, Ashtown, Dublin 15
MRFC, Teagasc, Moorepark, Fermoy, Co.Cork

The work undertaken at the laboratory provides a support infrastructure for primary producers in County Cork and throughout the Republic of Ireland through a Partnership Approach.