The Istituto Zooprofilattico Sperimentale delle Venezie (IZSVe) is among the key actors of an EU-funded research project, whose objective is to improve the surveillance and control of livestock diseases in Nigeria, in particular Peste des petits ruminants (PPR) and Newcastle disease (ND).
The four-year LIDISKI (EU Support to Livestock Disease Surveillance Knowledge Integration) project aims at integrating knowledge and surveillance of livestock diseases and at improving the living conditions of small ruminant and poultry farmers in the Nigerian states, where small-scale and family-scale farming is the main source of subsistence. In Nigeria, PPR and ND are among the most impacting diseases causing relevant health consequences for reared animals, but they may also cause severe economic losses and strongly impact on the rural population in the region.
Strategy and objectives
The LIDISKI strategy focuses on four interdependent actions:
- technical-scientific capacity building,
- field actors engagement,
- understanding the socio-epidemiological contexts of PPR and ND,
- development of tools and guidelines to design surveillance and control strategies for ND and PPR in Nigeria.
Collecting and sharing information, as well as the upgrading the production and distribution chain of PPR and ND vaccines stand out among the most relevant objectives of LIDISKI. LIDISKI also aims to reach herders and rural farmers and provide them with information useful for disease detection, efficient animal sampling and good vaccination practices.
During the kick-off meeting which was held on 4 March, 2020 in Abuja (Nigeria) Kurt Cornelis, representative of the EU Delegation for Cooperation, stressed the importance of this project not only for food security and human health issues involving the local populations, but also to prevent the spread of diseases to neighbouring countries.
Partners
LIDISKI will be implemented by a consortium coordinated by CIRAD – the French Institute of International Cooperation for Agricultural Research for Development, in collaboration with the IZSVe, the Nigerian National Institute for Veterinary Research (NVRI) and IKORE, a Nigerian organization for social and economic development.
To achieve such objectives, the IZSVe will mainly employ the staff members of the National/OIE/EU Reference Laboratory for Avian Influenza and Newcastle Disease, but will also have the support of with the colleagues from the SCS4 (Epidemiology) and the SCS0 (Communication) Departments in the following work packages (WP):
- Capacity building for laboratory and vaccine production (WP2),
- PPR and ND Epidemiology (WP5),
- Internal Communication (WP9).
