IZSAM and FAO

The international policy pursued by the top management of the IZSAM since the early 1990s, with the precise objective of building the loyalty of international partners, led to prestigious recognitions. In 1992, the IZSAM was designed as Collaborating Centre of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) for Epidemiology and Informatics. In 2012, the FAO Reference Laboratory for Epidemiology was established, thanks to the high technical and scientific profile activities carried out in the field of veterinary epidemiology, risk assessment, development of Geographic Information Systems (GIS) and web applications for the surveillance of vector-borne diseases.

From 2012 to 2016, the Centres worked with FAO to develop training plans and guidelines for the control of significant conditions affecting public health at international level, including vector-borne infections and zoonoses. The Centres have also participated in projects and missions to develop risk analysis models for major emerging zoonoses in Africa and the Middle East.

The Cooperation and Development Projects, carried out under the auspices of the FAO, concern:

• The Animal Health (2014-2015), participating in the GLEWS (Global Early Warning System for Major Animal Diseases Including Zoonosis) Programme of OIE-FAO-WHO, under the supervision of AGAH (Animal Health Service-FAO);
• The Information systems, implementing SILAB for Africa, a Laboratory Information System currently installed in several African countries. In Namibia, Botswana and Zambia the SILABFA will be integrated with the Animal Identification, Recording and Traceability-AIRT (Animal Identification, Recording and Traceability-AIRT);
• The Animal Health Information System-AHIS, proposed in Zimbabwe. The funding was requested in 2016.

In 2016, IZSAM signed a new project with FAO to extend SILAB for Africa to other countries and develop the BIO-BANK module for 16 African countries.