[en] Full text: The animal healthy service policy in Albania represents an integral component of overall government, social and economic policy in the field of agricultural and rural development, public health, food processing and import/export of animal products. In order to obtain the necessary political, economical and public support, animal health service attempt to contribute effectively to the overall development of the country aiming at improving standards of living of its inhabitants. One of this approaches is through a practical way of reducing food loses due to animal morbidity and mortality, increasing productivity in animal population, protecting human health against zoonotic diseases and ensuring human treatment of animals. An animal health strategy contributes to the creation of conditions necessary for an uninterrupted animal disease surveillance and control of the country. The vision of National Animal Health Program (NAHP) is to improve the health and welfare of animals, which meets the needs of stakeholders, enables safe production of food, improves health of the public, sustains the rural society, and support the rural economy. The concept and requirements for this vision - The current veterinary services section in the country, including the veterinary diagnostic institution, is very weak. The few resources in place are fragmented and reflect a historic paradigm of previous regimen with incomplete transition to market economy. The veterinary services on the 12 districts/regions appear to have been connected from administrable aspect but their field operations are not connected with the national interest and the above mission. - There is a need to link food safety and zoonotic aspect to public health sectors so that public interest and funding resources can be increased. - The livestock sector is undeveloped and consumers do not have much influence or organization. The veterinary service should take this opportunity to present a comprehensive plan of national animal health with the benefits for both consumers through safety food and livestock sector through better production and trade. - Budgets need to be in place to meet all need with coordination with many of the international organization to secure funding for specific activities within the comprehensive plan for NAHP. - The main core for reliable NAHP is a scientifically based surveillance system in which contingency planning is incorporated for specific health events. - Through a reliable NAHP, there is a challenge to sustain livestock production, including social needs, in the agricultural community, with modern economic approaches. The NAHP can be the core for this type of sustainability due to the trust of the agricultural community in the veterinary input. However the NAHP should not use police authority to implement its action. There is no need for this type of authority if the producers are aware of the importance of health animals for their production and family. (author)

[en] The animal health service policy in Albania represents an integral component of overall governmental, social and economic policy in the field of agricultural and rural development, public health, food processing and import/export of animal products. In order to obtain the necessary political, economic and public support, the animal health service attempts to contribute effectively to the overall development of the country which aims at improving the standards of living of its inhabitants. Practical means of contributing to national development include reducing food loses due to animal morbidity and mortality, increasing the productivity of the livestock population, protecting human health against zoonotic diseases and ensuring humane treatment of animals. An animal health strategy contributes to the creation of conditions necessary for uninterrupted animal disease surveillance and control in the country. The main animal health problem in Albania is brucellosis in ruminants, caused by B. melitensis. This infection currently affects the entire country, reaching a prevalence of 10% in several districts. The latest and most severe outbreaks of classical swine fever were identified on 1996 when 5 515 animals were infected and 3 683 animals died. The circulation of bluetongue virus (BTV) was detected for the first time in Albania in 2002 with a seroprevalence of 15%. The evidence of BTV circulation in Albania and the absence of the main vector C. imicola suggest that other Culicoides species could be implicated in virus transmission. H5N1 avian influenza in Albania was confirmed in March 2006 in backyard flocks in the villages of Cuke and Peze-Helmes. In both villages there were no human cases. Rabies was of concern in Albania from 1928 until 1976. The disease re-emerged in March 2001 in the village of Morine in Kukes district affecting a domestic dog and three persons were bitten. Other cases have been reported in northern Albania. (author)