The microbiology activity at the CIPH is the first of its kind in Croatia, established between late 19th and early 20th century. During this period, the Division kept up with the requirements of its profession, undergoing continual rapid advances. The CIPH Division of Microbiology houses the collaborating and national centres of the World Health Organisation (WHO) and 19 National Reference Centres for cooperation with the European Centre for Disease Control and Prevention (ECDC). The Division implements microbiology in the form of professional, scientific and teaching activities, including teaching activities for students of the Zagreb School of Medicine and the Zagreb University of Applied Health Sciences. Our vision is to modernize all the Division’s activities through novel approaches and follow new trends in diagnostics, as well as upgrade population health and the prevention of communicable diseases by strengthening cooperation with other similar services in county institutes of public health across Croatia.
Basic activities:
Diagnostic of outpatient specimens, in keeping with the Croatian Health Insurance Fund teams, as the largest part of the tests performed, which is constantly increasing;
Diagnostic in diverse fields of microbiology, as a reference activity exercised only at the CIPH at the national level;
Emergency microbiology diagnostic for the needs of the CIPH Division for Epidemiology of Communicable Diseases, which also covers the causative agents diagnosed solely in biosafety levels 3 and 3/4 (BSL-3 and BSL-3/4) conditions.
Reference laboratories:
Croatian National Reference Laboratory (NRL) for the European Centre for Disease Control and Prevention (ECDC)
Reference Centre (RC) of the Republic of Croatia Ministry of Health
WHO NRLs
ECDC NRL for Poliomyelitis
WHO NL for Poliomyelitis
ECDC NRL for Respiratory and Enteric viruses
Ministry of Health RC for Virologic Diagnosis of Respiratory and Digestive Infections
Irena Tabain, PhD, MD, Spec. microbiol.
ECDC NRL for Influenza
WHO NRL for Influenza
Irena Tabain, PhD, MD, Spec. microbiol.
ECDC NRL for Measles and Rubella
WHO NRL for Measles and Rubella
Asst. Prof. Tatjana Vilibić-Čavlek, PhD, MD, Spec. microbiol.
ECDC NRL for Chlamydiae
Asst. Prof. Andrea Babić Erceg, PhD, MD, Spec. microbiol.
ECDC NRL for Arboviruses and Rickettsiae
Ministry of Health RC for Diagnostic and Monitoring of Viral Zoonoses
Assoc. Prof. Tatjana Vilibić-Čavlek, PhD, MD, Spec. microbiol.
ECDC NRL for P3 Bacteria and Viruses
Irena Tabain, PhD, MD, Spec. microbiol.
ECDC NRL for Tuberculosis
Supranational RC of the Republic of Croatia Ministry of Health
WHO NRL for Tuberculosis
Ljiljana Žmak, PhD, MD, Spec. microbiol.
ECDC NRL for Meningococci
Asst. Prof. Andrea Babić Erceg, PhD, MD, Spec. microbiol.
ECDC NRL for Legionellae
Selma Bošnjak, MSc, MD, Spec. microbiol.
ECDC NRL for Bordetellae and C. diphtheriae
Selma Bošnjak, MSc, MD, Spec. microbiol.
ECDC NRL for Cholera
Višnja Kružičević, MD, Spec. microbiol.
ECDC NRL for Salmonella
Višnja Kružičević, MD, Spec. microbiol.
ECDC NRL for Listeria
Prim. Blaženka Hunjak, PhD, MD, Spec. microbiol.
ECDC NRL for Borreliae
Selma Bošnjak, MSc, MD, Spec. microbiol.
ECDC NRL for Mycoplasmas
Prim. Blaženka Hunjak, PhD, MD, Spec. microbiol.
ECDC NRL for Leptospirosis
Selma Bošnjak, MSc, MD, Spec. microbiol.
ECDC NRL for Human parasites
Asst. Prof. Mario Sviben, PhD, MD, Spec. microbiol.
ECDC NRL for Systemic Mycoses
Ana Čičmak, MD, Spec. microbiol.