Animal Health
The laboratory coordinates the specialised units for the diagnosis and control of animal diseases and zoonoses, ensuring compliance with appropriate operational standards. It works closely with regional and national authorities to manage key prophylaxis plans, maintaining ongoing communication with local stakeholders to ensure effective interventions. Additionally, it provides specialist guidance for research activities, aligning its work with the Institute’s strategic objectives.
Animal Health focuses on the well-being of all animals, including livestock, sport animals, companion animals, wildlife, and those used in research. The laboratory coordinates specialised units for the diagnosis and monitoring of animal diseases and zoonoses.
Laboratory diagnostics play a central role, with activities spanning anatomical pathology, bacteriology, virology, parasitology, serology, entomology, and molecular biology. The objective is to protect and improve animal population health through prevention, health promotion, and emergency management, while ensuring compliance with high operational standards. This multidisciplinary approach ensures effective disease prevention and control, contributing to animal health and public health safety.
The protection of public health through the diagnosis of zoonoses — diseases transmitted from animals to humans — is of paramount importance. It is well established that a significant proportion of human pathogens originate from animals and that approximately 75% of emerging animal diseases are zoonotic. Transmissible animal diseases can have devastating effects on individual animals, populations, the economy, and human health, while also negatively impacting biodiversity and climate. Additionally, climate change may facilitate the emergence of new diseases. To address these challenges, the laboratory aligns its activities with national and European policies, following the One Health approach, which integrates the health of people, animals, and ecosystems in a sustainable manner.
The monitoring and control of diseases in domestic and wild animals are key tasks of the laboratory, as these diseases not only pose a potential direct threat to human health but may also spread pathogens through contaminated food. Animal health and welfare are essential for ensuring food safety, as healthy livestock contribute to high-quality food production.
Animal health strategies include surveillance, control, and eradication plans developed in accordance with veterinary regulations at the EU, national, and regional levels. The laboratory works closely with regional and national authorities to implement key prophylaxis plans, maintaining continuous communication with the local territory. The collaboration between Local Health Authority Veterinary Services (ASL) and Istituti Zooprofilattici is essential for the successful implementation of these measures.
Research plays a pivotal role in the laboratory’s activities, providing scientific evidence to inform health policies and intervention programmes. The laboratory offers specialist guidance for research activities, with a strong focus on diagnostic innovation and the prevention of the most relevant and current animal diseases. This approach aligns with institutional strategies at both the national and international levels, ensuring a significant contribution to public health and animal welfare.
The laboratory is composed of five units:
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Giovanni Savini
Head
Giovanni Savini was born in Rome in 1960. After earning a degree in Veterinary Medicine from the University of Milan in 1986, he began his career in the Serology Unit of the Istituto Zooprofilattico Sperimentale of Abruzzo and Molise, where he initiated important collaborations with international institutions. In 1989, he moved to Australia, where he spent four years studying the epidemiological, clinical, pathological and laboratory aspects of protozoal diseases in various animal species. At the end of this period, he obtained a PhD from Murdoch University in Western Australia.
Giovanni Savini was born in Rome in 1960. After earning a degree in Veterinary Medicine from the University of Milan in 1986, he began his career in the Serology Unit of the Istituto Zooprofilattico Sperimentale of Abruzzo and Molise, where he initiated important collaborations with international institutions. In 1989, he moved to Australia, where he spent four years studying the epidemiological, clinical, pathological and laboratory aspects of protozoal diseases in various animal species. At the end of this period, he obtained a PhD from Murdoch University in Western Australia.
In 1994, Savini returned to the Institute in Teramo, where he served as Head of the Virology Unit from 1999 to 2024. Under his leadership, the Unit launched numerous research projects funded by the Italian government and the European Commission, collaborating with major international research institutions. In 1998, he specialised in Animal Health, Livestock Hygiene and Animal Production at the University of Pisa, with a focus on infectious diseases in farm animals. In 2005, thanks to his scientific and managerial expertise, he was appointed Head of the World Organisation for Animal Health (WOAH) Reference Laboratory for Bluetongue.
His research primarily focuses on viral vector-borne diseases of veterinary importance, such as Bluetongue, African Horse Sickness and Epizootic Haemorrhagic Disease. He also works on diseases with potential public health implications, including Rift Valley Fever, West Nile and Usutu. He has contributed as an expert to numerous scientific working groups set up by the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) and the European Medicines Agency (EMA), at the request of the European Commission. In November 2014, he was the scientific coordinator of the Fourth International Conference on Bluetongue, held in Rome.
Since 2010, Savini has been a member of the Community Veterinary Emergency Team, the European Commission’s task force for responding to animal health emergencies in Europe and third countries. Since 2018, he has been Head of the Animal Health Laboratory. He also served as Editor-in-Chief of the journal Veterinaria Italiana from September 2012 to February 2025 and as Medical Director of the Institute from 4 July 2014 to 9 February 2017.Since 16 March 2020, he has coordinated SARS-CoV-2 diagnostic activities at IZS-Teramo. As of 1 January 2023, he is Head of the European Union Reference Laboratory for Rift Valley Fever, working with national laboratories in EU Member States to harmonise methods and diagnostic techniques, and providing training on their use. He also liaises with the European Commission to provide technical and scientific support.
He is the author of over 230 scientific publications on infectious diseases in domestic animals, with a particular focus on vector-borne diseases.
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Virology, Cell Cultures and Viral Antigen Development
Go to the UnitThe Unit is responsible for molecular and serological diagnostics, as well as for the genomic, in vitro and in vivo characterisation of pathogens causing viral infections in domestic and wild animals. It is actively engaged in the surveillance of emerging and re-emerging viral infections, particularly those with zoonotic potential, and in the development and validation of new diagnostic methodologies. Its work is aimed at continuously strengthening diagnostic and biological characterisation capacities for emerging viruses, contributing to the timely and effective management of health emergencies and to the reinforcement of strategies for the prevention and control of infectious diseases.
Medical Entomology
Go to the UnitThe Medical Entomology Unit focuses on haematophagous diptera, which act as vectors of arboviral diseases in animals and humans. In particular, it carries out diagnostic, surveillance, research, and cooperation activities related to Culicidae (mosquitoes), Culicoides, and the viral diseases they transmit.
Diagnostics and Anatomic Pathology
Go to the UnitThe unit performs microbiological, anatomical-pathological, histological, mycological, and parasitological analyses to identify the aetiological causes of diseases in domestic animals and wildlife, providing expert opinions and interpretations based on laboratory results. It conducts research in the field of comparative oncology and on certain bacterial and parasitic agents responsible for zoonoses. It also manages and updates the Animal Tumour Registry of the Abruzzo Region.
Exotic Disease Diagnostics and Surveillance
Go to the UnitAs an integral part of CESME, the unit primarily focuses on the diagnosis of viral infectious diseases that are absent or sporadically present in Italy. Its activities also include the monitoring and control of the viruses responsible for these diseases, which pose a potential risk to public health. The unit ensures early diagnoses to enable timely interventions and promotes surveillance plans to address health emergencies and protect the population, while also fostering collaboration between institutions and communities.
Immunology and Serology
Go to the UnitThe unit specialises in the serological diagnosis of infectious animal diseases of viral, bacterial, and parasitic origin. It supports health surveillance for various diseases affecting livestock and companion animals, some of which are transmissible to humans. Research activities include advanced studies in applied immunology and proteomics for a detailed characterisation of host–pathogen interactions and the development of diagnostic methods or vaccine-based tools. These studies contribute to diagnostic innovation and to a better understanding of the immunopathogenetic mechanisms of infectious diseases, improving strategies for prevention and health control.