The meeting on molecular epidemiology techniques for rabies was held in 2023 as follow-up to training sessions in 2021 and 2022, again led by a team from the WOAH Reference Laboratory for Rabies in China P.R. Participants from nine Members in the region took part in the meeting, with the objective to strengthen capacity for epidemiology of rabies.
In 2021 and 2022, Dr Changchun Tu, WOAH rabies expert, and his team from Changchun Veterinary Research Institute (CVRI) in China P.R. led online workshops on molecular epidemiology techniques (MET) for rabies to support Members’ understanding of the epidemiology of rabies virus (RABV) in the region. The Members participating in this meeting (India, Indonesia, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Sri Lanka, Thailand and VIetnam) previously took part in CVRI-led “hands-on training” workshops either in China P.R. or in their own country and in the online training on MET for rabies.
The meeting was a mixture of short presentations by experts, information sharing by participants, and open discussion sessions. Participants gave very informative reports on the current situation of rabies in their countries and how they have successfully used MET for rabies. Besides the team from CVRI, Dr Shrikrishna Isloor, WOAH rabies expert at the WOAH Reference Laboratory for Rabies in Bangalore, India, and Dr Jeffrey Cruz, from the Philippines, joined the meeting to present on inter-laboratory collaborations on rabies molecular epidemiology. Participants discussed their future plans for using MET and for collaborations between laboratories to strengthen their understanding of rabies epidemiology and control.
Group photo with participants of the WOAH Regional Information Sharing Meeting on Molecular Epidemiology Techniques (MET) for Rabies, 22 November 2023.
