Report of workshop on brain sample collection, packing, transportation and diagnosis of rabies in animals
A two day workshop on “Brain sample collection, Packing, Transportation and Diagnosis of Rabies in Animals” was organized on 23rd and 24th March, 2022 at Veterinary College, Karnataka Veterinary Animal and Fisheries Sciences University (KVAFSU), Hassan, Karnataka, India. The workshop was jointly organized by Commonwealth Veterinary Association (CVA), Veterinary college, Hassan and KVAFSU- CVA Rabies Diagnostic Laboratory, OIE Reference Laboratory for Rabies, Veterinary College, Bengaluru,India
The two days hands on workshop was inaugurated on 23rd March 2022 by Dr. K. C. Veeranna, Hon`ble Vice Chancellor, KVAFSU who also gave a keynote address. This was followed by a presentation by Dr. S. Yathiraj, CVA Asian Regional Representative on Importance of Rabies Diagnosis”; Dr. S. Abdul Rahman, Executive Director, CVA about “ Role of Commonwealth Veterinary Association (CVA)”; Dr. Satish Kumar, K. H., District Health Officer, Hassan on “Importance of control of rabies under One health concept” and Dr. Shrikrishna Isloor, Professor and Laboratory Director, KVAFSU-CVA Rabies Diagnostic Laboratory about the Workshop. The Presidential Address was made by Dr. V. Girish Kumar , Dean, Veterinary college, Hassan.
The inaugural programme was followed by a theory session (PPT and Video based) on the occipital foramen approach of brain sampling, sample preparation, transportation and preservation by Dr. Isloor.
A total of 42 participants from different parts of the country including the faculty from various disciplines of Veterinary College, Hassan and Veterinary Officers from Dept of Animal Husbandry & Veterinary Services, Govt. of Karnataka participated in the workshop.
On the second day (24th March 2022), practically oriented hands-on workshop on diagnosis of rabies was conducted with Dr. Shrikrishna Isloor, Dr. Tajunnisa, M. and Mr. Dilip, L. as the resource persons.
In the forenoon session, occipital foramen approach for brain sampling, including sample preparation, sample transport and sample preservation were demonstrated. Subsequently, the participants individually practised the brain sampling .This was followed by hands on experience on Lateral Flow Assay (LFA) , making brain impression on slides, Direct Fluorescent Antibody (DFA) test,
In the afternoon session, the DFA and direct Rapid Immunohistochemistry Test (dRIT ) slides including both positive, negative controls and test samples were visualized.
The technical part of the two day workshop was wrapped-up after an interactive session between resource persons with all the participants. Overall, the participants expressed the ease of brain sample collection through occipital foramen approach and employing LFA, DFA and dRIT in diagnosis of rabies.
The workshop concluded with a valedictory programme where in the Chief guest Dr. K. R. Ramesh, Deputy Director, Dept. of AH and VS, Hassan stressed the need of large-scale surveillance for rabies in the field. Dr.Isloor urged the participants to employ the user-friendly Occipital foramen method of brain sampling. Dr. Girish kumar thanked the CVA , KVAFSU, all dignitaries, resource persons, coordinators and participants for the success of the workshop.
Dr. K. Sripad, Dept of Medicine, Dr. Nagappa, K., Deprtment of Veterinary Public Health and Dr. Ravikumar, P., Dept. of Pathology, Veterinary college, Hassan coordinated the technical programme.
