Emergency control of transboundary diseases of livestock in Southern and Eastern Europe

Abstract

“Emergency Control of Transboundary Diseases of Livestock in Southern and Eastern Europe”, approved in the year 2000 and implemented from September 2001 the CENTAUR is expected to expand significantly. The major objective of this training Regional Project will be to strengthen the national and regional capacities to respond to transboundary animal disease emergencies through technology transfer in the fields of diagnostics, epidemiology and emergency preparedness. The following countries are included in the Project: Albania, Bosnia-Herzegovina (the Federation and the Serbian Republic), Bulgaria, Croatia, FYR Macedonia, Moldova, Romania, Slovenia and Turkey. Southern and Eastern Europe are the strategically important areas especially exposed to Transboundary Animal Diseases (TADs). The CENTAUR’s main task is to facilitate contacts with international centers of excellence and international organizations in order to achieve full compatibility with OIE and EU standards regarding disease control methods. The first CENTAUR Countries: Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland and Slovakia have been CENTAUR members since 1997 following the implementation of the previous FAO TCP Project. From the Baltic countries: Lithuania has recently joined the network and Latvia and Estonia have been encouraged to do so. Also the CENTAUR was joined by the Member: Sankt Petersburg Academy of Veterinary Medicine, Russian Federation (2001). It is expected that the Countries and subscribers of the CENTAUR NEWS FLASH INFO published by the Veterinary Research Institute, Brno will play an active role regarding the dissemination of scientific/professional information, regional cooperation and training. Four workshops to be held and other activities proposed in the project are described. Emergency control of transboundary diseases of livestock in Southern and Eastern Europe