The State of Eritrea

Ministry of Agriculture Newsletter

A Monthly Newsletter prepared by the Public Relations Division, Issue No 38, August 2021

National Animal and Plant Health Laboratory
Continuing to make significant and positive contributions
The National Animal and Plant HealthLaboratory (NAPHL), part of theMinistry of Agriculture (MoA), is oneof the oldest veterinary laboratory
institutes in East Africa. Establishedduring the Italian period in 1903, it
is located in the southwest part ofAsmara (referred to as “Villagio”). Fora long period after its establishment,
it was known as the Central Veterinary
Laboratory (CVL).
During the structural reorganizationof the MoA in 2003, the CVL extended
its structure, scope, and activities
to include functions of Plant Health
Laboratory, and was eventuallyrenamed as the National Animal andPlant Health Laboratory.

through a Board of Management,
while technical and operationalactivities are coordinated andmanaged by its Director. At this time,
the NAPHL has a total of 137 staff outof which 50 percent are females.
The NAPHL has regularly broadened
its functions to provide required
services to the technical departmentsof the MoA, regional laboratories, andother relevant stakeholders.

The NAPHL has a vision of providing
reliable and efficient laboratory
diagnosis for animal and plant diseases/pest identification, supporting
safety and ensuring quality tests ofagricultural products and inputs, andproducing safe and quality veterinary
Since 1992, the NAPHL has been vaccines and biologics. Moreover,
expanding its services and introducing the NAPHL follows and adheres tonew units. Currently, The NAPHL the norms, guidelines, and standards
works under the Office of the Minister of the World Organization for Animal

1Mr. Efrem Ghebremeskel

Health (OIE) and the International
Plant Protection Convention (IPCC).
According to Mr. Efrem Ghebremeskel,
Director of the NAPHL, after
independence the Government ofEritrea and the MoA have exerted
tremendous effort and mobilized
considerable resources to rehabilitate
the infrastructure and improve services.
This has included domestic resources
and involved cooperation with different

development partners. Notably, the NAPHL Services
NAPHL has established partnerships
with the African Union Vaccine Animal Health Laboratories
Production (AU-PANVAC), as well aslaboratories in Sudan, Egypt, and Italy. Virology laboratory: one of the mostimportant diagnostic sections, theCurrently, the NAPHL is equipped virology laboratory was establishedwith modest technology and lab and remodelled within the existing
facilities. According to Mr. Efrem,“Human resource development is
one of the notable achievements of
the laboratory. Agriculture graduates,
along with graduates from other fields,
assigned to the laboratory are playing
a great role in advancing laboratory
techniques.
Training
programs
and workshops for employees andgraduates, which have been offeredboth inside and outside the country,
are also helping to raise the quality ofthe services of the lab.”
Mr. Tsige Kifleyesus

Furthermore, Mr. Efrem explainedthat the NAPHL has introduced andadapted various laboratory testing
techniques and supporting units.

animal disease diagnostic building in
2006. The laboratory seeks to provide
efficient, accurate, and reliable animal
viral disease diagnostic services.
According to Mr. Tsige Kifleyesus,
Broadly, the NAPHL is divided into five head of the unit and acting director
major sub-divisions. The first is Animal of NAPHL, the laboratory has been
Disease Diagnosis, which comprises active in the diagnosis of various viral
the Pathology, Bacteriology, Virology, diseases. Presently, the laboratory
Parasitology, Serology and Molecular is equipped with modest facilities
Biology laboratories. The second is required for cell culture, viral isolation,
the Plant Health laboratory, which and identification techniques. To date,includes plant pathology, entomology, the laboratory unit has processedand seed quality control units. The 1048 samples.
third is the Food/Feed quality andSafety testing laboratory, while the Animal Pathology Unit: according
Vaccine Production and Quality to Mr. Fitsum Neguse, unit head ofControl laboratory is the fourth. the veterinary pathology laboratory,
The fifth sub-division includes theLaboratory Equipment Maintenance,Engineering, and Support units.
Finally, Mr. Efrem concluded by sayingthat the NAPHL is trying to improve its
quality and standards, while providing
effective and reliable laboratory
services. To this end, it is also
implementing the Iso17025 standard
lab quality management system.
Mr. Fitsum Neguse

2the unit receives suspected samples(live sick animals or animals thatrecently died). The prime diagnostic
techniques include ante-mortem
and post-mortem examinations, aswell as pathological interpretation.
It also collects samples and carriesout distribution to various laboratory
sections. To date, it has processed
2377 samples.
Bacteriology Laboratory Unit: this unit
aims to provide reliable and efficient
bacterial, fungal, mycoplasmal,chlamydial,
rikettisialdiseasesdiagnosis and food safety test services.
According to Ms. Yirgalem Mehari,head of the unit, the laboratory
performs a range of techniques,ranging from simple staining to thecomplex processes of isolation andidentification of the causative agentof the disease. Moreover, it conducts

Ms. Yirgalem Mehari

food and feed safety tests for animaland plant products. The unit plays acrucial role in meeting one of the mostimportant goals of the MoA: providing
safe food and feed products. The
laboratory has processed a total of1215 animal origin samples over theyears.
Molecular Biology Unit: this unit wasestablished in 2007 and has been
providing rapid confirmative diagnostic
services in viral and bacterial diseasediagnosis. According to Ms. Yodahi
Petros, head of the unit, this laboratory
is working with conventional PCR andMs. Yodahi Petros

LAMP techniques. Moreover, she
explained that the laboratory works
in the identification of viruses andbacteria at molecular level and gives
detailed information on the lineages,serotypes, and related features. To
date, the laboratory has processed
1462 samples.

Parasitology Laboratory Unit: theparasitology laboratory helps in theidentification of animal parasites. In
order to expand and improve services,
as well as ensure safety, a newparasitology laboratory was recently
constructed within the NAPHL
premises. The parasitology laboratory
functions in three major areas: ectoparasitology, endo-parasitology, andhaematology techniques. As of thisyear, the laboratory has processed
62,636 samples.

final trial and preparatory stages of
producing vaccines for New Castle
Disease (NCD) and Pest des Petites ofRuminants (PPR).
Vaccine Quality Control Unit: This
laboratory is established with the aimof performing quality control tests

Vaccine Production and Quality
Control

Vaccine Production Unit: the vaccine
production laboratory was establishedin 1903 during the Italian period. It
had a record of producing an arrayof bacterial and virus vaccines.
Serology Laboratory Unit: the serology However, after 1975, due to war
laboratory was established in 1992. It
focuses on viral and bacterial animal
disease diagnosis using serologicaland antigenic techniques. According
to Mr. Tekeste Oqbamichael, headof the unit, the laboratory utilizes arange of techniques, from the simplest
screening to complex confirmation
tests. The serology laboratory plays animportant role in national surveillance,
sero-monitoring,anddiseaseeradication programs, while from2011-2019 it was actively engaged inhuman brucellosis diagnosis services.
Mr. Dawit Bisrat
Notably, over the past 30 years, morethan 195,000 samples have been and a lack of attention, its activities
were deteriorated; and eventuallyprocessed by the laboratory.
stopped. Mr. Dawit Bisrat, head of
the unit, pointed
out that following
independence,
theMoA, considering its
vital contribution indisease control andprevention program,re-establishedthevaccineproduction
unit within the NAPHL
premises. Of note, thelaboratory is in theMr. Tekeste Oqbamichael

3Ms. Ghirmawit Habtomof imported and locally producedvaccines. According to Ms. Ghirmawit
Habtom, head of the unit, thelaboratory is currently conducting
trials and quality control tests on
raw materials required for vaccine
production, intermediate and finalproducts.
Laboratory
AnimalFacilities:
laboratory animals are highly neededfor disease diagnosis, diagnostic
supporting
experiments,andvaccine production. The NAPHL has
reasonably well established facilities
for lab animals. These are designed
for cattle, sheep, goat, rabbits, mice,guinea pigs, and chicken.

Safety and Quality Laboratory
Unit: this segment of the NAPHL
was established to test and verify
the compositional quality of foodand feed. Currently, the laboratory
performs proximity tests on theagricultural input and output
commodities. To date, food and feedsafety tests are being carried out
under the bacteriology laboratory
unit. Overall, the unit has tested 3478
food/feed samples for safety and 3223
samples for quality verification.

Mr. Mussie Yemane

Plant Health Laboratories: thisunit was established in 2003 during
the organizational restructuring ofthe MoA. The laboratory focusesdiagnosing plant pests and diseasecausing microorganisms, such asbacteria, fungus, virus, nematodes,and insects. It is also active inthe collection, identification, andpreservation of insects. Mr. Mussie
Yemane, unit head of the plant healthlaboratory, explained that even though
the development of the Plant Health
Laboratory is still in its initial stages,
considerable efforts are being madeto strengthen its capacity and increase
its scope of functions. Currently, thelaboratory has advanced its diagnostic
techniques to identify viruses andbacteria, as well as to test the safety
and quality of seeds. To date, thelaboratory processed 1002 samples.
Regional Laboratories
Currently, the NAPHL is extending its
scope and functions by strengthening
regionallaboratories
throughprovision of technical support andsupply of required basic laboratory
equipment,materials,andconsumables. It also delivers training
programs and workshops for staff.
As a result, regional laboratories areexpected to perform basic diseasediagnosis techniques and related
laboratory activities as soon as thebeginning of next year.
***

Editor-In-Chief
Ermias Solomon, Director of Public Relations Division
Email:- ersohab@gmail.com, Tel: 182225/ 07143877/ 07182662, Asmara, Eritrea
Editorial BoardFilmawit Measho, Hara Weldetnsae, Shushan Okbay
Photo credit: Aradom Bereket, Habteab Andemariam, MoA Photo Archives

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