The Institute in Rio de Janeiro

From 30 March to 1 April 2010 a delegation from the Institute, consisting of director Vincenzo Caporale and Rossella Lelli, Giacomo Migliorati, Armando Giovannini, Carlo Turilli, Alberto Mancuso and Barbara Alessandrini, visited the WHO's Pan-American Foot and Mouth Disease Centre in Rio de Janeiro (Brazil).

The meeting, also attended by representatives from the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA)'s Centers for Epidemiology and Animal Health in Fort Collins, USA, was divided into two sub-groups: one devoted to epidemiology, and the other to distance learning.

The aim was to evaluate possible collaboration projects in order to use new resources for epidemiological foot-and-mouth disease monitoring systems, and draw up a joint working programme designed to activate technical cooperation on disease monitoring in Latin American countries. Zoonoses and food safety were identified as possible areas of interest in addition to foot and mouth disease.