Participants

Institutions

The consortium is multi-disciplinary. It consists of following participants (project partners):

• Administration of the Republic of Slovenia for Food Safety, Veterinary Sector and Plant Protection (beneficiary and coordinator),
• University of Ljubljana, Veterinary Faculty/National Veterinary Institute (affiliated entity),
• National Institute of Biology (affiliated entity),
• National Institute of Public Health (associated partner), and
• National Laboratory of Health, Environment and Food (associated partner).

Administration for Food Safety, Veterinary Sector and Plant Protection

Administration for Food Safety, Veterinary Sector and Plant Protection (AFSVSPP) is the competent authority in the field of animal health. Among other duties and responsibilities, it is entrusted with administrative and expert tasks and official controls relating to the animal health, identification and registration of animals, the protection of the population against zoonoses, animal welfare, the use and associated traceability of veterinary medicinal products and preventive measures in animal reproduction.

The University of Ljubljana - Veterinary Faculty

The University of Ljubljana Veterinary Faculty (UL VF) is an educational and research institution, which consists of 5 institutes and 2 clinics. Among our employees, there are 30 professors, 20 assistant professors and 35 assistants. Veterinary Faculty strives to meet the standards of the veterinary profession in Europe in the fields of animal health and welfare, as well as public health care, including care for food safety and the prevention of contagious diseases, and possesses all the necessary facilities in its institutes, clinics, and testing laboratories.

The National Veterinary Institute (NVI)

The National Veterinary Institute (NVI) is organised as an internal organisational unit of UL VF that carries out the activities of a public veterinary service based on the concession agreement with AFSVSPP. In the frame of the concession agreement, in the field of animal health NVI performs the activities of official and national reference laboratories, veterinary hygiene service, risk assessments, preparation of expert bases for planning of disease prevention and control measures and programs, etc. Annual working programme of NVI is coordinated each year with AFSVSPP and approved by the director general of AFSVSPP.

National Institute of Biology (NIB)

National Institute of Biology (NIB) is the one of the largest independent public research institutions in the field of life sciences in Slovenia. Its activities are related to the environment, agriculture, food, and human health. Two NIB departments will be included in the proposed project: Department of biotechnology and systems biology and Department of organisms and ecosystems research. At the Department of biotechnology and systems biology research spanning from biology, biodiversity, evolution, epidemiology, and diagnostics of microbes to development and validation of tools for their detection is conducted. They focus on plant pathogens and other organisms pathogenic to human and animals, environmental virology, and viral ecology (studies of viruses in environmental samples - mainly water) and development of non-chemical solution for virus elimination from water samples. They are part of the European reference laboratory for pests on plants (for viruses and phytoplasmas) and performed national monitoring for SARS-CoV-2 in wastewater (2020-2023). The Department of organisms and ecosystem research is top research group in the field of physiology, ethology, and ecology at the national and international level with focus on the studies of the structure and function of ecosystems and is one of the leading groups in Slovenia in the field of biodiversity monitoring at different levels and organism groups.

National Institute of Public Health

National Institute of Public Health (NPIH) is mandated to maintain health statistics databases, regularly analyses health data to inform general public and decision makers. NIPH manages programs targeting to lower the burden of chronic non-communicable disease, explores the parameters of the health care system, supports health promotion and healthy environments. NIPH is appointed as a national contact point for communicable diseases in accordance with the International Health Regulations and the Early Warning and Response System. NIPH surveys the dynamics of communicable diseases, implements vaccination programs and prepares the response to environmental health threats or threat by communicable diseases.

National Laboratory of Health, Environment and Food

National Laboratory of Health, Environment and Food (NLHEF) is the central and largest Slovenian public health laboratory that handles environmental protection, diagnostic and public health microbiological activities, chemical and microbiological analyses of different types of samples, and performs research activities. The laboratory provides services for the needs of the state, especially for the needs of monitoring public health factors, as well as official inspection and supervision under the competence of the Ministry of Health, the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Food, the Ministry of the Environment and Spatial Planning, and the Ministry of Defence.