Klaus Depner

Dr. Klaus Depner graduated in veterinary medicine from the School of Veterinary Medicine Hannover, Germany, in 1988. He then worked in Namibia as head of the virology department at the Central Veterinary Laboratory in Windhoek, where he first came into contact with African swine fever (ASF).

In 1993, he returned to Germany and worked as a senior scientist at the European Reference Laboratory for Classical Swine Fever (CSF) at the Institute of Virology of the School of Veterinary Medicine Hannover until 1997. In 1998, he became head of the German National Reference Laboratory for CSF and ASF at the Friedrich-Loeffler-Institut (FLI) on the island of Riems.

In 2007, Klaus Depner joined FAO in Rome for one year, where he was responsible for the Transboundary Animal Diseases (TAD) in Eastern Europe and the Caucasus. During this time, ASF entered Georgia and spread in the Caucasus. He conducted initial epidemiological surveys for ASF in Georgia, Armenia, and Azerbaijan and was involved in control and eradication programs.

From 2008 to 2010, he worked as a legislative officer in the area of animal health and zootechnics in Brussels at the European Commission (DG-SANTE) with responsibility for notifiable pig diseases.

In 2010, he returned to FLI and now works as a senior scientist in the Institute for International Animal Health / One Health. He has conducted numerous epidemiological investigations on ASF outside and within the EU and has been involved in the development of ASF control and eradication programs.

From 2011 to 2020, Klaus Depner was a member of the Panel on Animal Health and Welfare at EFSA and has contributed to various scientific opinions on animal health.

Updated CV 08-Sep-2021