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Regional Capacity Building Training for Leading and Young Scientists

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On September 19-23th 2016, the International Science and Technology Center (ISTC) in collaboration with the Biosafety Association of Central Asia and the Caucasus (BACAC) and Regional Biosafety Training Centre (Dushanbe) delivered a regional Capacity Building Training Seminar focused on Crimean-Congo Haemorrhagic Fever Virus (CCHFV), Ebola virus and Zika virus. The participants included 42 leading and young scientists from the Tajik Research Institute of Preventive Medicine (TRIPM), Tajikistan, as well as representatives from Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia, Iran, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Mongolia, Pakistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan.

The training included sessions and seminars promoting safe and secure working practices for the viruses. Laboratory-based training focused on antibody (Enzyme linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA)) and nucleic acid based techniques including Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) and Recombinase Polymerase Amplification (RPA) to detect/diagnose the presence of CCHFV, as well as the safe use of biosafety cabinets. The seminar also included sessions on the current status of CCHFV globally and in participating countries, and presentations on recent Ebola virus and Zika virus outbreaks in West Africa, South America and related countries.

The ISTC would like to thank the international experts and specialists from BACAC and UK Public Health England (PHE) for facilitating and providing the training, the World Health Organisation (WHO) for their participation and the UK’s International Biological Security Programme for co-funding the event with ISTC Funding Parties (USA, EU).  Since its inception, BACAC has led the delivery of improved biosafety and biosecurity knowledge and training across Central Asia and the Caucasus. Please contact the ISTC (www.istc.int) and BACAC (www.bacac.net) for further details on this and future Biosafety and Biosecurity events.