Workshop Montenegro

From the 23^rd to the 27^th of March 2015, the veterinarians Radoš Miković, Irina Mijatovic and Snezana Vucinic of the Diagnostic Veterinary Laboratory (DVL) of Montenegro, together with the project leader Federigo Santini and the project assistant Ana Velimirovic, attended the laboratories of the Istituto Zooprofilattico Sperimentale dell’Abruzzo e del Molise “G; Caporale” (IZSAM) for a workshop carried out within the framework of the European project IPA 2011 Project “Strengthening the Veterinary Services” Montenegro (Project Cris No: 337 408 EuropeAid/132641/C/SER/ME).

One of the main objectives of the project is to strengthen the capability of the Veterinary Services of Montenegro concerning the control of the animal diseases having an impact on human health through the transmission, the direct contact, the action of vectors or the ingestion of food of animal origin coming from livestock or from the fishery production sector: to this end a training course on the diagnostic methods, which are not yet used at the Diagnostic Veterinary Laboratory of Montenegro, is planned to be carried out.

During the period of training, in addition to the theoretical information on the new diagnostic tests and their scientific characteristics, the Montenegrin researchers carried out training on the job by assisting the colleagues of IZSAM in their daily work.

The main topics of the course consisted in the isolation and identification of pathogen strains of Enterobacteriaceae for animals and humans, with particular attention to Salmonella spp. and Vibrio spp. The training activity on the research and characterization of Salmonella spp. concerned the isolation of Salmonella from samples taken in livestock (boot socks) and cartons used for the transport of day-old chicken, as well as the biochemical and serological identification (Kauffmann-White scheme method) and the molecular identification (PCR) of the main serotypes: S. Typhimurium and its monophasic variation, S. Enteritidis, S. Infantis, S. Hadar and S. Thompson. Concerning Vibrio spp., the isolation from food through standard methods (ISO) as well as the confirmation of Vibrio spp. strain species isolated through the molecular method (PCR multiplex), were illustrated.

In addition, the research of the constituents of animal origin in feeding stuffs intended for animal consumption were shown through the microscopic method approved by the European Union within the control of spongiform encephalopathies.

During the week, the Montenegrin veterinarians participated also in the seminar entitled “Piano nazionale di controllo delle salmonellosi negli avicoli e Salmonella spp. come criterio di sicurezza alimentare” (“National plan for the control of salmonellosis in poultry and Salmonella spp. as food safety criteria”).