The coordinators of the European project ZOE (Zoonoses Emergence across Degraded and Restored Forest Ecosystems), Prof. Felix Drexler (Institute of Virology; Charité – Universitätsmedizin Berlin) and Prof. Nadja Kabisch (Leibniz Universität Hannover), visited us in Ljubljana on 12-13 March, as we are a part of the ZOE project.
The purpose of the visit was to meet with the coordinators to discuss the progress of the project and future plans. Together with the project coordinators, we visited and viewed the sites where field work is taking place as part of the project in the vicinity of the village of Prestranek near Postojna. Visiting the sites is very important for the work of the project, as the project also includes a study of the sites using remote sensing.
Slovenia’s role in the project is central as it is one of only four study regions where field research is taking place. In the study area visited, we will continue to study the prevalence of pathogens in rodents, ticks and mosquitoes for two years. The sampling started before in autumn 2024, while preparations are already underway for the next fieldwork in May 2025 in south-west Slovenia.
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V sklopu evropskega projekta ZOE (Zoonoses Emergence across Degraded and Restored Forest Ecosystems) sta nas 12. – 13.03.2025 obiskala koordinatorja projekta prof. Felix Drexler (Institute of Virology; Charité – Universitätsmedizin Berlin) in prof. Nadja Kabisch (Leibniz University Hannover).
Namen obiska je bil sestanek s koordinatorjema, kjer smo se pogovarjali o poteku projekta in nadaljnjih načrtih. Skupaj s koordinatorjema projekta smo obiskali in si ogledali lokacije, kjer poteka v sklopu projekta terensko delo v okolici vasi Prestranek pri Postojni. Ogled lokacij je za projekt zelo pomemben, saj v okviru projekta poteka tudi študija lokacij z oddaljenim zaznavanjem (angl. Remote sensing), kar olajša delo njihove skupine.
Vloga Slovenije pri projektu je zelo pomembna, saj je ena od le štirih držav, kjer potekajo tudi terenske raziskave. Tereni, na katerih smo že in bomo raziskovali razširjenost bakterij in virusov pri glodavcih, klopih in komarjih, so načrtovani za dve leti in so se začele že v preteklem letu v jeseni, ob tem pa že potekajo priprave na naslednje terensko delo v mesecu maju, na jugozahodu Slovenije.
Visit to one of the sites in the Slovenian ZOE study region. From left, acad. prof. Tatjana Avšič – Županc, Nataša Knap (from Slovenian team) with prof. Nadja Kabisch from Leibniz Universität Hannover and prof. Felix Drexler from Charité – Universitätsmedizin Berlin.