From 23 September to 4 October 2024 and thanks to the financial support of UN-FAO, the Istituto Zooprofilattico Sperimentale delle Venezie (IZSVe) hosted a two-week training course entitled “Improving laboratory capacity for a better surveillance and control of rabies” to support Ukraine, where a two-year backdrop of war contributed to the spread of rabies exasperating public health concerns on this disease. The course was attended by four veterinarians working at different regional veterinary laboratories in Ukraine and was held at the IZSVe headquarter in Legnaro, Padova (Italy).
Despite rabies disappeared in Western Europe, the continent is not exempt from rabies; notably, the red fox (Vulpes vulpes) remains the primary reservoir for the virus in Eastern Europe. Effective active and passive surveillance, accurate diagnosis and mass vaccination are critical factors to control and progressively eliminate the disease in the animal reservoir, thus reducing its significant impact on public health. Recently, there has been growing concern regarding the rise of rabies in Ukraine. Since the onset of the war, there has been a significant increase in stray animals and a decline in vaccination coverage among both wildlife (such as foxes) and domestic animals (including dogs and cats). Furthermore, there has been a marked increase in reported cases of human bites from domestic and wild animals, along with a notable rise in rabies prophylaxis treatments administered.
This hands-on training course included instructional sessions on paramount topics for rabies surveillance in the rabies reservoir, including basics on laboratory diagnosis, biosafety & biosecurity, and quality assurance of laboratory results. Additionally, participants engaged in practical activities in the laboratories of the IZSVe spanning from sample collection to rabies diagnosis through various techniques especially focusing on molecular methods.
This course presented a great opportunity not only for the Ukrainian colleagues to enhance their technical skills on rabies surveillance and laboratory diagnosis, but overall for both partners to exchange their field experiences, constraints and wishes, thus representing an important example of international collaboration.
