May 2024
The University of Nicosia School of Veterinary Medicine, in collaboration with the UK International Coronavirus Network (UK-ICN), successfully organised the ‘Feline Coronavirus Conference’, which took place on 16 and 17 April 2024, at the University of Nicosia in Cyprus.
The conference hosted scientists from prestigious institutions including the University of Oxford, Cornell University, the University of California, the University of Edinburgh, the University of Zurich, the University of Liverpool, the University of Bern, the Royal Veterinary College, and the UK Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs.
Julian Hiscox, Director of the UK-ICN and a Professor at the University of Liverpool, expressed his gratitude to the University of Nicosia School of Veterinary Medicine for their partnership and hospitality. He highlighted that the presentations, which covered a wide range of topics such as the monitoring of emerging diseases, coronavirus genetics, and the mapping of animal susceptibility to coronaviruses, played a pivotal role in disseminating knowledge and furthering research.
Peter Karayiannis, Professor of Microbiology and Molecular Virology at the Medical School, emphasised the critical nature of collaborative research in combating global health threats such as the recent coronavirus Pandemic. Reflecting on the recent challenges posed by feline infectious peritonitis in Cyprus, he noted that the conference not only brought together leading experts in virology and infectious diseases, but also fostered an essential dialogue on integrating veterinary and human health disciplines under the ‘One Health’ framework. This approach is vital for developing comprehensive strategies to manage and prevent diseases across species in the future, and emphasises the need for governments across the globe to be prepared.
The conference was well-attended by numerous local veterinarians and students from the veterinary programme at the University of Nicosia.
The conference captured the media’s interest. Click/Tap HERE to see an example of how the Cyprus Broadcasting Corporation featured it in their news segment.