Workshop “German – Central Asian Cooperation on Zoonotic Diseases” : Nachbericht

The international workshop “German – Central Asian Cooperation on Zoonotic Diseases” took place on June 12, 2019 in Munich, organized by the Bundeswehr Institute of Microbiology and the German Research Platform for Zoonoses.[...]The Friedrich-Loeffler-Institute (FLI) contributes to biosecurity measures in Central Asia with projects in Egypt, Pakistan and Ukraine under the head of the German Biosecurity Program. The efforts to enhance biosafety and biosecurity in Pakistan were presented by Dr. Hosny El-Adawy of the FLI. The project aims to combat and control brucellosis in Pakistan. Therefore, disease surveillance, control strategies (e.g. vaccination programs), training of human and veterinarian health professionals, communication strategies and building up networks between different sectors are part of the project. The FLI serves as reference laboratory for the collected samples in Pakistan though transfer of samples from the country is difficult. Since in many rural areas of Pakistan humans and animals live close together, raising awareness in the public is essential to fight zoonotic diseases in Pakistan. According to Dr Hosny El-Adawy, solid scientific data on zoonotic infectious strains in the country are required to convince the government of Pakistan that measures are needed and be beneficial both for human as well as for animal health. [...]