About us

The Istituto Zooprofilattico Sperimentale delle Venezie (IZSVe) is an Italian public health authority deputed to conduct prevention, control, research and services in the fields of animal health and food safety.

The IZSVe is located at Legnaro (Padua, North-East Italy) and belongs to the Italian National Health Service. It’s part of a network that consists of nine other institutes, each responsible of controls and research activities for a specific geographical area.

Reference laboratories

The IZSVe is a national and international reference centre for the following animal health and food safety topics.

• Avian influenza & Newcastle disease
• Beekeeping
• Diseases at the animal/human interface
• Emerging avian diseases
• Fish, crustacean and mollusc pathology
• Pet therapy (Animal Assisted Interventions)
• Rabies
• Salmonellosis

Activities & Services

The IZSVe provides technical support in veterinary and food safety activities to public and private organizations.

• Diagnostic services
• Interlaboratory proficiency testing
• Veterinary biobank
• Geographic information systems (GIS)
• Animal welfare
• Food risk communication
• Training
• International cooperation

Research

The IZSVe carries out research activities in the animal health and food safety fields in order to develop new diagnostic techniques as well as vaccines and vaccination procedures. Most research activities regard:

• animal health and welfare
• zoonoses
• epidemiology
• food safety
• risk analysis
• risk communication