Le réseau de pathologie des mollusques. REPAMO

The creation of a mollusc pathology network was in effect and made official during 1992. The subject of this document is to present this network, which has not yet achieved its definitive size. Why this network? The creation of this network responds to several institutional and scientific needs. Indeed, the setting up of control measures aimed at regulating mollusc exchanges notably via European Directive 91/67 and its transcription into French law has, as a corollary, caused the recognition of IFREMER as the agency charged with performing the analyses necessary for responding to the needs of this Directive, as far as marine invertebrates are concerned. Moreover, France being among the primary producers of shellfish in the world, the setting up of a monitoring network aimed at obtaining data on the status of pathogenic agents and on the epidemiology of the shellfish of France, but equally of the European Union countries and third-party countries, assumed great importance for shellfish farming. Finally, as a result of the acquired and recognised scientific precedence of IFREMER's pathology laboratories by other colleagues to European and world plans, the pathology and general immunology research unit (URPIG) of IFREMER has been proposed for molluscs as the standard world laboratory by the International Office of Epizootics (OIE) and also for the European Union (directive in the process of being established).