CVA rabies diagnostic laboratory gets OIE twinning status

The CVA is delighted to announce that the dedicated rabies diagnostic laboratory, which was established by the CVA at the Bangalore Veterinary College, Bangalore, India in 2013 has now received OIE twinning status. It has now been twinned by OIE with the Centre for Disease Control (CDC) Atlanta, USA and Animal and Plant Health Agency (APHA), United Kingdom.

The CVA rabies laboratory at the Bangalore Veterinary College, is a key laboratory in the region, led by a dynamic and highly respected technical expertise, already with an international profile and with strong support from the national government. A crucial ingredient to the success of rabies control would be the empowerment of local veterinary and laboratory services. The OIE twinning will contribute to this by providing adequate training, tailored to suit the needs of not only India but other countries of the region. Ultimately, this should contribute to the development of national or regional epidemiological surveillance systems. With this, the effective communication would be a key to controlling rabies, by facilitating the exchange of information between countries, as well as standardising vaccination and diagnostic procedures. The twinning programme will also aim to promote and strengthen the technical expertise in the region, which in turn could contribute significantly to control rabies in both human and animals through multipronged approaches. The CVA is enthusiastic about the opportunities that this twinning with APHA, as an OIE reference laboratory, and CDC Atlanta will bring, both in greater efficacy in this goal and collaborations with other groups, hitherto unexplored.