Massimo Scacchia
Head
Massimo Scacchia graduated in Veterinary Medicine in March 1985. Since January 1990, he has been working at the Istituto Zooprofilattico Sperimentale dell’Abruzzo e del Molise "G. Caporale" (IZSAM), a technical body of the Italian Ministry of Health. In 1992, he obtained a Master's degree in Pathological Anatomy from the Faculty of Veterinary Medicine at the University of Bologna.
Massimo Scacchia graduated in Veterinary Medicine in March 1985. Since January 1990, he has been working at the Istituto Zooprofilattico Sperimentale dell’Abruzzo e del Molise "G. Caporale" (IZSAM), a technical body of the Italian Ministry of Health. In 1992, he obtained a Master's degree in Pathological Anatomy from the Faculty of Veterinary Medicine at the University of Bologna.
At IZSAM, he held the position of Head of the Units of Diagnostic Microbiology, Histopathology, Parasitology and Mycology from 1998 to 2016. He was also Head of the Animal Health Laboratory (Complex Unit) from November 2009 to June 2018, and Head of the High Specialisation Area for Cooperation, Development and Research from July 2018 to July 2024.
He is currently a WOAH (World Organisation for Animal Health) international expert for Contagious Bovine Pleuropneumonia (CBPP), a severe cattle disease widespread in Africa. He was also a WOAH expert on brucellosis from 2006 to 2017.
Within this framework, he coordinated and completed seven WOAH-funded twinning projects—four on CBPP and three on brucellosis.
He has over thirty years of professional experience in Africa and Asia. His first missions to Africa date back to the 1990s, when he worked as a volunteer with NGOs in Uganda, Tanzania and Algeria, setting up small veterinary diagnostic laboratories in remote areas.
The presence of the National Centre for Exotic Diseases at IZSAM, which deals with animal diseases not found in Italy but endemic in Africa, has led Scacchia to travel extensively across the continent to study these diseases in the field. This hands-on experience enhances diagnostic processes and enables quicker disease identification for better animal and public health protection in Italy.
In 2006, he was invited to train Namibian veterinarians in pathological anatomy at the Central Veterinary Laboratory (CVL) in Windhoek, Namibia.
From 2007 to 2009, he served as Team Leader for Diagnostic Activities and Research at the same laboratory, where he provided support to improve diagnostic performance, international cooperation, quality assurance, scientific research proposals, laboratory information management systems, and the restructuring of the CVL and its satellite facility in Ondangwa.
He conducted research on so-called "exotic" diseases in the Italian context, including CBPP, Lumpy Skin Disease, African Horse Sickness, African Swine Fever, Rift Valley Fever, Heartwater Disease, Equine Coital Exanthema, as well as other diseases such as brucellosis, malignant catarrhal fever and rabies in kudu antelopes.
He also led studies on CBPP pathogenesis and new vaccine development, collaborating with African, European and American veterinary laboratories.
Over the years, he has visited 22 African countries for work—Tunisia, Libya, Algeria, Mauritania, Mali, Cameroon, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda, Zambia, Mozambique, Zimbabwe, Botswana, South Africa, Lesotho, Namibia, Angola, Egypt, Morocco and Madagascar—along with four Asian countries (Iran, Kazakhstan, Turkey and Lebanon) and three in the Americas (USA, Cuba and Brazil), gaining extensive experience in animal health and zoonotic diseases.
From March 2019 to April 2024, he coordinated the secretariat of the Enhancing Research for Africa Network (ERFAN), which includes 37 veterinary institutions, 31 of which are African, from 19 different countries.
Sponsored by WOAH and funded by the Italian Ministry of Health, ERFAN aims to improve the diagnostic performance, training, technological innovation and scientific research capacities of participating veterinary institutions. The project concluded in April 2024 but received positive evaluation by WOAH, and further funding is expected for an additional three years.
Since 2020, Scacchia has collaborated with the Mediterranean Agronomic Institute of Bari (CIHEAM), providing training and veterinary consultancy in animal health, zoonoses–One Health, animal nutrition, and the establishment and organisation of veterinary clinics and laboratories—including mobile units—as part of cooperation projects in the Raqqa region of Syria. As part of this work, he contributed to the development of a remote veterinary tele-assistance app, a vital tool for supporting remote and/or unstable areas.
He has managed numerous scientific research projects and authored over 100 scientific publications in the field of veterinary medicine.
