Italy and Ethiopia conclude a successful twinning agreement on CBPP

Verification team from the WOAH Reference Laboratory for Contagious Bovine Pleuropneumonia (CBPP) in Teramo, Italy. Closing meeting of the Ethiopia Twinning on CBPP with IZS Teramo. Picture (c) IZS (Teramo) 2023

From 27 to 29 November 2023, a verification team from the WOAH Reference Laboratory for Contagious Bovine Pleuropneumonia (CBPP) in Teramo, Italy, visited the Candidate Laboratory, the Animal Health Institute (AHI) in Sebeta, Ethiopia, as the penultimate activity of this project.

The team members of the Istituto Zooprofilattico Sperimentaledell’Abruzzo e del Molise ‘G. Caporale’ (IZS Teramo) were Dr Daniela Averaimo, bacteriologist, Dr Flavio Sacchini, immunologist, and Dr Massimo Scacchia, expert at the WOAH Reference Laboratory for CBPP in Teramo.

CBPP has been identified by the Ethiopian government as a priority disease for the country, negatively affecting several of the UN’s seventeen Sustainable Development Goals, such as reducing hunger and poverty in the Ethiopian population.

The project started in December 2019 and due to the COVID-19 pandemic saw activities take place, complementing the in-person activities, with audits and training delivered online.

Closing meeting of the Ethiopia Twinning on CBPP with IZS Teramo. Picture (c) IZS (Teramo) 2023

The audit team visited the different departments involved in the project, such as Bacteriology, Serology, Molecular Biology, Soil Production, Epidemiology, NGS (next-generation sequancing) and Bioinformatics.

All activities, both laboratory and epidemiological related to the CBPP, carried out at the AHI were implemented, especially with regard to the Quality System, Biosafety and the setting up of biological material banks.

The final audit meeting was also attended by Dr Romano Marabelli, Personal Advisor to the WOAH Director General and Dr Giacomo Migliorati, Scientific Director of the Teramo Institute.

The WOAH expert for CBPP, Dr Scacchia reiterated that in the three previous WOAH Twinning projects on CBPP carried out by Teramo as Parent Laboratory, all three Candidate laboratories eventually became WOAH Reference Laboratories.

Group picture in front of the facility. At right, Dr Romano Marabelli (WOAH) and second from right, Dr Tesfaye Chibssa Rufael (Director General of the AHI). Closing meeting of the Ethiopia Twinning on CBPP with IZS Teramo. Picture (c) IZS (Teramo) 2023

International Meeting on CBPP

Immediately following the IZS verification mission from 27 to 29 November 2023, an International Meeting on CBPP was organised at the Animal Health Institute in Sebeta, Ethiopia (AHI) as the formal closing of the WOAH Twinning Project for CBPP. This meeting took place on 30 November and 1 December. The meeting was attended by CVOs / WOAH Delegates or their substitutes from Eritrea, Somalia, South Sudan, Tanzania and Uganda.

Also in attendance were the Personal Advisor to the Director General of WOAH, Dr Romano Marabelli, the Scientific Director of IZS Teramo, Dr Giacomo Migliorati, the representative of the Italian Agency for Development Cooperation, Dr Faben Getachew, AU-PANVAC representative, the Directors and staff of the AHI and the audit team of the WOAH Reference Laboratory of IZS Teramo, Dr Averaimo, Dr Sacchini and Dr Scacchia, for a total of 31 participants.

The two-day regional meeting provided an overview of the CBPP situation in the eastern Africa region and the activities carried out in each country (Eritrea, Ethiopia, Somalia, South Sudan, Tanzania and Uganda) for the control of the disease in the field (vaccination and/or serosurveillance plans and surveillance in slaughterhouses) and through the national veterinary laboratories.

It was also the time for the AHI to present the results of the WOAH Twinning project with the IZS Teramo and the ways in which it can support regional veterinary institutions on CBPP epidemiology and diagnosis. All meeting participants expressed their warm thanks to the WOAH Reference Laboratory for CBPP in Teramo for their strong commitment throughout the project.

The CVOs and WOAH Delegates (or their representatives) from the participating countries recognised the AHI as a centre of excellence for CBPP epidemiology and diagnosis at regional level.

The WOAH Delegate for Uganda, Dr Anna Rose Ademun - Okurut. Picture (c) IZS (Teramo) 2023

During the meeting, participants from regional veterinary services, after discussing CBPP control issues, agreed on the need to establish a Regional Scientific Network on CBPP in the region.

The involvement of the countries that participated in the international meeting, with the addition of Kenya and the WOAH Sub-Regional Representation in Nairobi, represents a unique opportunity to define common strategies for the control and future eradication of CBPP, using the same epidemiological and diagnostic approach.

All participants agreed that a project proposal for this network should be submitted to donors such as AU-IBAR for sponsorship.

The drafting of the project will be the responsibility of the AHI. The project proposal will be sent to the CVOs / WOAH Delegates participating in the network for additions relating to single states.