The G. Caporale Institute in Botswana

From the 6^th to the 10^th of November 2012, Attilio Pini and Massimo Scacchia of the G. Caporale Institute travelled to Botswana to meet with the Director of the National Veterinary Laboratory (NVL), Chanda Marobela, the FAO representative in Botswana and the OIE representative in the SADC (Southern African Development Community) region.

A delegation of the Angolan Veterinary Services - composed by Raul do Santos, Head of the Cabinet of the Director General of the Angolan Veterinary Services and Samos Daniel, Head of the Veterinary Services in the Angolan region of Namibe - also attended the meeting.

In collaboration with Dr. Chanda and the NVL staff, both involved in activities relating to Contagious Bovine pleuropneumonia (CBPP), the activities carried out in such area by the various departments were examined, as emphasis was given to the diagnostic potentials of the newborn OIE Reference Laboratory. During the visit, participants drafted a project hypothesis envisaging the creation of a network between the Central Veterinary Laboratory of Angola, Botswana, Zambia and Namibia, particularly for matters relating to PPCB. The NVL has already presented such project hypothesis to the FAO Office in Botswana and the OIE office in the SADC region. The project will also be proffered to the AU IBAR (African Union Interafrican Bureau for Animal Resources) representative in Gaborone, and the SADC region Secretariat, for financial support. The G. Caporale Institute, as OIE Reference Laboratory for CBPP, will be the main scientific partner within the project.

These meetings also served as an opportunity for the Teramo Institute to present itself and deliver its Corporate video together with other informational material relating to its international cooperation activities. Both the OIE representative in the SADC region and the FAO representative in Botswana expressed their appreciation for the initiative, identified as the first effective proposal for the creation of scientific networks between laboratories.

On the sidelines of the meetings, the Embassy of Angola in Botswana invited the Italian delegation for the celebration of the Angolan national holiday commemorating November the 11^th. Here, doctors Pini and Scacchia had the opportunity to informally meet with the ambassador of Angola in Gaborone, Jose Antonio Neto, brother of Augustine, i.e., the father of the "Angolan Country", and the Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation of the Republic of Botswana, Phandu T.C. Skelemani.