Mission to Asmara, Eritrea

March 2010

From 22nd to 27th March 2010, three veterinary surgeons from the G. Caporale Institute, Federigo Santini, Massimo Scacchia and Tiberio Di Mattia, visited the National Veterinary Laboratory (NVL) in Asmara to attend working meetings with the heads of the departments responsible for the management of veterinary activities and the Eritrean Agriculture Minister, Arefaine Berhe.

The technical and scientific collaboration between the G. Caporale Institute and the Eritrean Veterinary Services began in 2006 with a cooperation project relating to the control of brucellosis and tuberculosis on dairy farms, funded by the Abruzzo Regional Council, which ended in 2009. During the project, Eritrean veterinary personnel were trained in the diagnosis of this zoonosis, and an animal identification system was developed. All dairy cattle were identified by earmarks produced by the Institute with customised coding for use in Eritrea. A dedicated database was also designed to guarantee the traceability and control of animal movements, and recording of laboratory tests for the said diseases. A dairy farm on which the identification system implemented by the Institute is used was visited during the mission.

The Institute is currently involved in an OIE brucellosis twinning project with the Eritrean government. The last stages of the programme were discussed and defined in this context; they comprise epidemiology training courses to be held at the Institute in Teramo and final training in microbiology, serology, epidemiology and production of diagnostic aids, given by the Institute's researchers at the NVL in Asmara.

Activities relating to the research project on small ruminant disease and sheep pox, two viral diseases liable to be introduced into Italy and Europe, funded by the Italian Health Ministry, were also presented and discussed during the mission. These diseases, which are very important for Eritrean animal husbandry, will be studied at the NVL by a joint team of Eritrean and Italian researchers.