ECDCMONITORING External quality assessment foridentification, antimicrobial susceptibilitytesting and molecular typing ofHaem ophilus influenzae, 2026 On behalf of the IBDLabNet surveillance network This report was commissioned by the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control, coordinated by DrMaria Keramarou, and produced by Dr Samy Taha and Prof. Muhamed-Kheir Taha, Institut Pasteur, Paris, France,on behalf of the IBDLabNet consortium, as part of the implementation of Framework Contract ECDC/2025/001. Authors Samy Taha, Invasive Bacterial Infections Unit, National Reference Centre for Meningococci andHaemophilusinfluenzae, Institut Pasteur, Université Paris Cité, Paris, France; Muhamed-Kheir Taha, Invasive Bacterial InfectionsUnit, National Reference Centre for Meningococci andHaemophilus influenzae, Institut Pasteur, Université ParisCité, Paris, France. Acknowledgements The authors would like to thank the members of the IBDLabNet consortium for their support in the design andimplementation of this exercise, and all participating European Union/European Economic Area (EU/EEA)laboratories for their engagement and contribution to the 2026 external quality assessment. Suggested citation: European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control. External quality assessment foridentification, antimicrobial susceptibility testing and molecular typing ofHaemophilus influenzae, 2026. Stockholm:ECDC; 2026. Stockholm, August 2026 ISBN: 978-92-9498-917-8doi: 10.2900/1606579Catalogue number: TQ-01-26-062-EN-N Contents Abbreviations ............................................................................................................................................... ivExecutive summary ........................................................................................................................................11 Introduction ...............................................................................................................................................22 Study design and methods...........................................................................................................................3Organisation of the scheme .......................................................................................................................3Participants and recruitment ......................................................................................................................3Panel design.............................................................................................................................................3Distribution, testing window and instructions...............................................................................................3Laboratory procedures assessed.................................................................................................................3Whole-genome sequencing........................................................................................................................3Data capture and confidentiality.................................................................................................................4Expected results and performance assessment ............................................................................................43 Results.......................................................................................................................................................53.1 Participation and laboratory methods ....................................................................................................53.2 Performance on non-culture samples ....................................................................................................63.3 Performance on cultured isolates ..........................................................................................................73.4 Antimicrobial susceptibility testing.........................................................................................................83.5 Whole-genome sequencing uptake and reported outputs ........................................................................94 Discussion ................................................................................................................................................ 115 Conclusions .............................................................................................................................................. 146 Recommendations..................................................................................................................................... 15References .................................................................................................................................................. 16Annex 1. Participating laboratories and countries ............................................................................................ 17Annex 2.Haemophilus influen