Faculty of Veterinary Medicine: Regional leader and recognizable European partner with prestigious universities

University of Sarajevo Rector, Prof. Dr. Rifat Škrijelj and Vice-Rector for Teaching and Student Affairs, Prof. Dr. Aida Hodžić visited on 10 June 2020, the Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, where they met with the Faculty management: Dean, Prof. Dr. Muhamed Smajlović and Vice Deans: Prof. Dr. Rizah Avdić, Prof. Dr. Jasmina Omeragić, Prof. Dr. Davor Alagić, Prof. Dr. Nejrom Hadžimusić and Prof. Dr. Sabina Šebić-Haračić. The meeting was also attended by Prof. Dr. Nihad Fejzić, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine Dean in office terms 2012-2016 and 2016-2020.
Rector Škrijelj congratulated to the newly elected Faculty management on the occasion of the beginning of the mandate and thanked the previous Dean Fejzić for his support of the development of the University.
The meeting is dedicated to the discussion of topics related to the reform processes and integration of the University, and the need for amendments to the Law on Higher Education of KS, as well as the scientific research work of the Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, its improvement and results so far.
The Faculty of Veterinary Medicine of the University of Sarajevo is the only one of its kind in Bosnia and Herzegovina, it is a regional leader and a recognizable European partner with prestigious universities, and it is an institution that provides adequate answers in the most critical moments.
Within the visit to the Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, a visit and tour to the Veterinary Institute was organized, where the management of the Faculty and the University met with Prof. Dr. Almedin Zuko. The Veterinary Institute primarily deals with the detection and research of zoonoses as well as other animal diseases and participates in control programs for these diseases in BiH and beyond. The institute has the highest quality laboratories and diagnostic equipment that will certainly contribute to human and animal health.
In the Laboratory for Molecular Genetic and Forensic Research of the Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, University of Sarajevo, the first Bosnian strain of SARS-CoV-2 virus, the causative agent of this disease, was isolated from clinical samples of people with COVID-19. This, a great and very important step forward for Bosnian science as a whole, made with the own funds of the Veterinary Faculty of the University of Sarajevo, represents a concrete contribution of inventiveness and knowledge to world efforts in elucidating the nature and origin of the virus on the one hand and a potential contribution to the development of adequate vaccines.