The specific mission of the National Microbiology Centre is to provide scientific and technical support to the General State Administration, the Autonomous Communities and the National Health System (NHS) in the prevention, diagnosis and treatment of infectious diseases. As part of this mission, the CNM is integrated in the Network of Biological Alert Laboratories​​ (RE-LAB) and participates in alert control in the Publick Health which are occasionally originated due to these diseases.

Since an alert situation can occur at any time and, therefore, outside working hours, since 2014 the CNM has had a Rapid Response System (SRR) to act in an urgent and coordinated manner in the event of a microbiological alert or emergency, whether due to natural or intentional causes, 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. This allows a rapid diagnosis and early communication to the decision-making levels and therefore an invaluable aid in the control of the process and in the implementation of the appropriate measures.

The activation of an alert will always be carried out upon request and in agreement with the Public Health authorities of the Autonomous Communities, the Centre for the Coordination of Health Alerts and Emergencies of the Ministry of Health, Social Services and Equality  (CCAES) or the RE-LAB, with the following sequence:

1. The CNMreceives a phone call reporting a suspected case. Usually hospital microbiologists call to coordinate the sending of the sample, once the health authorities who decide to activate the alert have been contacted. Alternatively, the aforementioned health agencies/authorities can call directly, who know the contact details of the SRR, also available to healthcare professionals in the Integrated Management of Requests and Reports (GIPI) web application for requesting tests to the CNM (https://cnm-laboratorios.isciii.es).

2. If the call is made during working hours, it may be received by the on-call physician of the RRS or by the corresponding laboratory. In the first case, the on-call physician forwards the contact information to the head of the unit/laboratory concerned, who will continue with the same.

3. Outside working hours, the call is received by the on-call physician on the on-call mobile phone, who is responsible for coordinating the sending and receipt of the samples, the performance of the corresponding tests and the issuing of the reports.

In recent years we have witnessed numerous examples of alerts, some of them with high media impact, in which the CNM has had to participate as a Reference Centre, processing biological samples from suspected cases and offering advice to health authorities and professionals from the NHS and other public and private institutions. Among these alerts, those produced by respiratory viruses (SARS-CoV-2, SARS, MERS coronavirus, avian influenza), Biological Risk Level 4 viruses (Ebola, Lassa, Crimean-Congo and smallpox), suspected cases of bioterrorism (contamination with Bacillus anthracis spores) or crises such as that produced by the outbreak of haemolytic uraemic syndrome, caused by Escherichia coli, serotype O104:H4, among others, stand out.  The SRR has played a key role in supporting the NHS in the microbiological diagnosis of the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus in the context of the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic.

As mentioned above, the contact details of the CNM Rapid Response System are available on the GIPI web application (https://cnm-laboratorios.isciii.es/), accessible to authorities and health professionals.