WOAH's growing expertise network for animal health in the region

At the WOAH 92nd General Session of the World Assembly of Delegates, newly-designated WOAH Reference Laboratories for aquatic and terrestrial animal diseases and Collaborating Centres were announced. Listed below are those designated in 2025 in the Asia Pacific region.

• WOAH Reference Laboratory for infection with decapod iridescent virus 1
  Division of Maricultural Organism Disease Control and Molecular Pathology, Yellow Sea Fisheries Research Institute (YSFRI), Chinese Academy of Fishery Sciences, China P.R.
• WOAH Reference Laboratory for equine piroplasmosis
  Indian Council of Agricultural Research-National Research Centre on Equines (ICAR-NRCE), India
• WOAH Reference Laboratory for infection with Aphanomyces invadans (epizootic ulcerative syndrome)
  Aquatic Animal Health Laboratory, Exotic & Aquatic Animal Health Division, ICAR-National Bureau of Fish Genetic Resources, India
• WOAH Reference Laboratory for equine rhinopneumonitis
  Equine Research Institute, Japan Racing Association, Tochigi, Japan
• WOAH Collaborating Centre for Wildlife Trade and Wildlife Health
  Centre for Wildlife Forensics, National Parks Board, Animal & Plant Health Centre, Singapore
• WOAH Collaborating Centre for Wildlife Health Surveillance and Epidemiology
  Thailand National Wildlife Health Center (Thailand-NWHC), and the Monitoring and Surveillance Center for Zoonotic Diseases in Wildlife and Exotic Animals (MoZWE), Faculty of Veterinary Science, Mahidol University, Thailand

These new designations add to the growing WOAH expertise network, which constitutes the core of our scientific expertise and excellence, and ensure WOAH recommendations and technical outputs are based on the latest science and aligned with best practices.

WOAH is also proud to formally announce a new collaboration between Australia’s national science agency, CSIRO, and its Australian Centre for Disease Preparedness (ACDP) and Indonesia’s Disease Investigation Centre (DIC) Wates’s laboratory. The partnership was arranged as part of WOAH’s Laboratory Twinning Programme, and will strengthen the region’s response to the threat of high pathogenicity avian influenza (HPAI). (See an article published by CSIRO for more detail.)

WOAH extends congratulations to our Members on these confirmations, and we eagerly look forward to improved collaborations for animal health and welfare in Asia and the Pacific.