 | | This is a 3 year project from February 2013 to January 2016.
The project is managed by the European Union Office to Kosovo and implemented by a Consortium comprising PAN Livestock Services, UK, JVL-Consulting, Belgium, Animal Health & Veterinary Laboratories Agency, UK, and Friedrich Loeffler Institute, Germany. A Team Leader is assigned on a part-time basis, short-term expertise is made available from time to time while a veterinarian and Office Manager are on site all of the time.
The Food and Veterinary Agency (FVA) is the main beneficiary and functions as the overall guiding institution, also with involvement of the Kosovë Forestry Agency (KFA) and the Ministry of Health Institute of Public Health (IPH). These organisations are represented on the Project Steering Committee which meets quarterly.
The DCE Project is the second national project to control and eradicate rabies and classical swine fever (CSF). It is part of a regional program supported by the EU to eradicate the two diseases from the Western Balkans. While undertaking this program, its other objectives are to provide technical support and training to the FVA in implementing control programs for rabies and CSF themselves, as well as other control programs.
This technical assistance program monitors a separate program for delivery of oral rabies vaccination (ORV) for wild carnivores, particularly the red fox which is the maintenance host for rabies in Europe, including the Western Balkans.
The project has the following specific objectives:
1. Investigate the situation in Kosovo to find out if rabies and CSF are actually present or just a threat.
2. Review and update control plans for CSF in wild and domestic pigs and rabies in foxes, including vaccination policies.
3. Train FVA staff and others (e.g. private veterinarians) in the implementation of vaccination programs and monitoring and surveillance for CSF in domestic pigs and wild boar and rabies in wildlife.
4. Design and implement a public information campaign (PIC).
5. Monitor the oral rabies vaccination campaign.
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