Monrovia – The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), through its Emergency Center for Trans-boundary Animal Diseases (ECTAD) in partnership with the Ministry of Agriculture is expected to hold a ground-breaking event Tuesday, November 27, 2018 to inaugurate the recently refurbished and equipped Central Veterinary Laboratory the University of Liberia, Fendall Campus, outside Monrovia.
According to FAO, the occasion is expected to bring together individuals from the public and private sectors working in the area of agriculture as the representative from FAO Regional Office.
According to FAO said the project was funded by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) and implemented by FAO ECTAD.
It includes refurbishment and equipping of Central Veterinary Laboratory with modern diagnostic equipment, diagnostic kits for priority zoonotic diseases, reagents and consumables.
Accordingly, FAO ECTAD has also reinforced the CVL with the capacity to diagnose priority zoonotic diseases and other Transboundary Animal Diseases (TADs) using various techniques, including bacteriological technics, Enzyme Linked Immunosorbent Assays (ELISAs), Fluorescent Microscopy and Real Time-Polymerase Chain Reaction (RT-PCR).
“Notably, the lab has been able to recently diagnose positive cases of canine Rabies in dogs for the first time ever in Liberia. This is by far a great achievement in Liberia because the country has now an in-house capacity to diagnose Rabies,” the communication said.
FAO in a communication furthered, that the project falls in line with its ‘Supporting Global Health Security Agenda Project,” aim at addressing Zoonotic Diseases and animal health in Africa.
FAO also noted that the project will support the Government of Liberia to address critical capacity gaps identified by the World Organization for Animal Health (OIE) tool for the Performance of Veterinary Services (OIE PVS) and the WHO Joint External Evaluation (JEE) in Liberia.
“The GHSA is aimed at addressing global vulnerability to infectious disease threats of public health concerns, strengthen systems, and ensure that a trained workforce has the skills and tools needed to prevent, detect and respond rapidly and effectively to infectious disease threats,” the communication maintained.
The FAO Emergency Centre for Transboundary Animal Diseases (ECTAD) in Liberia is focused on implementing four GHSA action packages as follows: Zoonotic Diseases, Biosafety and Biosecurity, National Laboratory System and Workforce Development, with the overarching objective of enhancing country animal health capacities.