After the inspection by the national and local health authorities last November, the School of Veterinary Sciences of the University of Bologna can begin the experimentation.
The Ministry of Health has officially announced that the Veterinary Center of DIMEVET is authorized to manage scientific activities involving animal species “Wild Mammals, Wild Avian Species, and Reptiles” under Article 20, paragraph 2, of Legislative Decree March 4, 2014, n. 26 relating to the protection of animals used for scientific purposes.
This means that we are one step away from starting the administration of the GonaCon™ immunovaccine to nutria and thus from being able to measure its ability to reduce the birth rate of the species.
The facilities authorized by the Ministry have been designed specifically to safeguard the welfare of the animals and will house specimens taken with the help of the Provincial Police.
The stay of the specimens in the facilities will consist in an initial period of quarantine to verify their health conditions, and a following period of acclimatization. After the administration of the vaccine, carried out by injection, the nutria will then be subjected to a follow-up monitoring of their health conditions and then released back into the wild!
