ERFAN Training course on “Detection of Listeria monocytogenes, Klebsiella pneumoniae and Salmonella spp.”

The Central Veterinary Laboratory and the Faculty of Veterinary Science in Windhoek and the World Organisation for Animal Health (WOAH) Collaborating Centre for Animal Production Food Safety in Teramo, Italy, organised the training course on “Detection of Listeria monocytogenes, Klebsiella pneumoniae and Salmonella spp.” From the 17^th to 20^th of October 2022, 24 participants from 18 veterinary institutions of 10 African countries and Italy met in Windhoek to share technical-scientific updates on analytical methods used in laboratory for testing, molecular typing, and whole genome sequencing.

Specifically, topics discussed included: Baseline study of Listeria monocytogenes in Namibia; the activities of the Italian National Reference Laboratory (NRL) of Listeria monocytogenes; detection of Listeria spp. and Listeria monocytogenes according to ISO 11290-1:2017; conventional isolation methods: detection of Salmonella spp. according to ISO 6579:2017; Detection of Klebsiella pneumoniae from foods, animals and environmental samples.

The 21^st ERFAN Northern and Southern Africa Working Groups meeting took place in the same venue.

The discussion built around the ERFAN three pillars: improving diagnostic capacities through networking activities, capacity building through training and technology transfer and capacity building through research.

All participants valued and recognized the importance and the impact of the ERFAN project in building a Food Hygiene collaborative network, supported by WOAH Collaborating Centre for Animal Production Food Safety in Teramo, in strengthening the capacity of veterinary Institutions concerning Food Borne Diseases diagnosis and sharing experiences on Food Borne outbreaks studies and control.