Professor at the Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, the University of Sarajevo, Teufik Goletić, is advocating with all levels of government in B&H for the support of the laboratory of that faculty, for systemic supervision of SARS-CoV-2 sequencing.

He is the head of the laboratory where the sequencing of samples is performed, with the aim of detecting virus mutations. In early February, they confirmed the first case of the presence of a British strain of the virus in B&H. The laboratory of the Faculty of Veterinary Medicine has so far identified a total of five samples of the British variant of the virus.

However, as he said in a statement to FENA, the continuation of sequencing, especially the timely one (not a retrospective one), in the laboratory of the Veterinary Faculty is not possible without the financial support of the competent ministries and public health institutions in procuring the necessary materials (the kits, chemicals, enzymes, etc.)

-Since the news about circulation and other variant strains, such as the one about the alleged identification of VOC P.1 (the so-called Brazilian variant) in our neighboring Republic of Croatia, practically appear one after the other the issue of support to the laboratory of the Faculty of Veterinary Medicine which has the capacity is of crucial and safety importance for all levels of government in B&H. They should, without delay, ensure that the issue of organizing and financing the systemic monitoring of SARS-CoV-2 sequencing is resolved as early as yesterday- Goletić pointed out.

As professor Goletić underlined, all previous research has been done using their own scientific and financial resources and with the support of international organizations UNDP in B&H and the IAEA.