16th International Conference on Infectious Diseases (ICID-16) takes place in Cape Town

ICID 16 Cape Town. Picture (c) P. Bastiaensen (oie) 2014 Neo Mapitse Gideon Bruckner

Twenty – two years after the last conference of the International Society for Infectious Diseases (ISID) took place in Africa (Kenya), the 16th edition of the International Conference was back in Africa -South Africa- and more precisely : Cape Town. The International Society (ISID) organises an annual International Conference (ICID) and publishes an International Journal (IJID) on infectious diseases, but is probably best known for its e-mail alerts network, ProMED, the Programme for the Monitoring of Emerging Diseases, whether human or animal.

Meet the expert : Dr Gideon Bruckner (left) being introduced by Dr. Neo Mapite, OIE Regional Representative for Southern Africa.

Although animal health was not the centre-piece of the Conference, the veterinary community, and with it, the OIE, marked the spot during the three day event.

The OIE had an exhibition booth and hosted a “meet-the-expert” session with Dr. Gideon Bruckner , President of the OIE Scientific Commission for Animal Diseases (SCAD) .

In addition, many oral and poster presentations were dedicated to zoonoses such as porcine cysticercosis, leptospirosis, Q fever, Rift Valley fever, tuberculosis, brucellosis, Crimean – Congo hemorrhagic fever (CCHF), epizootic hemorrhagic disease (EHD), Hanta virus, West Nile fever, murine typhus, new Ricketssia felis infections in man and many (other) arboviruses, transmitted by vectors.

The Chairman of the OIE Wildlife Working Group, Dr. William Karesh, delivered an oral presentation on “Upstream surveillance : scanning for zoonoses in wildlife”. Other quite remarkable talks were delivered by Prof. Robert “Bob” Swanepoel, a fellow-veterinarian, world-renowned in the field of hemorrhagic diseases and Dr. Larry Madoff, Editor of ProMED on the reporting of zoonoses.

The Conference was attended by over 1,800 delegates from around the world, mainly specialists in public health, but also many entomologists, sociologists, wildlife and veterinary experts.