The Central Virology Laboratory
Director: Dr. Yaniv Lustig
Deputy Director of the Central Laboratory for Viruses: Dr. Danit Sofer
Quality Manager: Magister Nava Tzuri
Head of administration and human resources: Kobi Gebso
Director of the National Center for the Verification of HIV/ AIDS Tests, the National Center for the Verification of Viral Hepatitis and Parvo B19 Tests: Prof. Orna Mor
Director of the National Center for Influenza and Respiratory Viruses:
Prof. Michal Mandelbaum
Director of the National Center for Rubella, Measles and Rubella and Polyoma Tests (BKV, JCV): Dr. Efrat Buchris
Director of the National Center for Herpes Viruses: Dr. Michal Teperberg
Coordinator of the CMV/EBV field: Dr. Michal Teperberg
Director of the National Center for Polio and Enteroviruses and the National Center for Viruses causing Diarrhea: Dr. Merav Weil
Director of the National Center for Environmental Viruses: Dr. Itai Bar-Or
Director of the Molecular Diagnostics Unit:
Dr. Oran Erster
Director of the Bioinformatics and Metagenomics Unit of Pathogens:
Dr. Neta Zuckerman
Contact:
Phone: 03-5302388
Fax: 03-5302457
Operating times:
Sunday to Thursday, 8:00-16:00
Fridays, for urgent cases: 8:00-13:00
Saturday: For encephalitis cases only
The Central Virology Laboratory, a Ministry of Health facility, is a recognized center of excellence for diagnosing viral diseases and conducting clinical and environmental tests. With nine national centers, three of which are recognized by the World Health Organization (WHO), the laboratory serves all hospitals and health funds in Israel.
The laboratory performs initial clinical tests, verifies results from other labs, and is equipped to tackle uncommon, emerging, and virus-induced diseases in Israel. This is done in line with the Ministry of Health's guidelines.
The laboratory is affiliated with the School of Public Health at Tel Aviv University and is staffed by graduate students. The laboratory team carries out significant research activities, with the aim of promoting the publication of results obtained in the laboratory as well as promoting research in the field of epidemiology to monitor morbidity caused by viruses. The on-site research is conducted by the laboratory staff and students, under the guidance of directors of the national centers, some of whom have a research rating.
The laboratory has been awarded the ISO-9001 certification by the Israeli Standards Institute since 2002.
Laboratory units
- National Center for Influenza and Respiratory Viruses
- National Center for Polio and Enteroviruses
- The National Center for Viruses causing Diarrhea
- The National Center for Rubella, Measles and Rubella Viruses
- Testing site for Polyoma virus - JCV/ BKV
- The National Center for Scurvy
- The National Center for Zoonotic viruses
- The National Center for HIV Verification
- Testing site for Parvo B19
- The National Center for Viral Hepatitis
- The National Center for Environmental Viruses
- Testing site for CMV/EBV
- The Molecular Diagnosis unit
- The Unit for Bioinformatics and Metagenomics of Pathogens
- Sample receiving room
Primary activities
- Production of nucleic acids and real-time PCR testing to identify the presence of a target virus.
- Molecular characterization of viral strains to gain epidemiological insights.
- Serological tests using ELISA and/or IFA methods to detect IgG and IgM antibodies, as well as calibration of neutralizing antibodies, for diagnosing active diseases or determining immune status.
- Virus culturing in cell cultures for epidemiological and research purposes.
- Development and evaluation of new methods for emerging and novel viruses in alignment with global and local morbidity trends.
