Vice Chancellor Prof. Emmanuel Luoga on 17th April 2023 officiated a three-day training organized by the AfriqueOne-ASPIRE project in collaboration with NM-AIST with aim of enhancing serological and molecular diagnostic techniques and capacity building on pathogen diagnosis using the latest techniques.

During a speech remark, Prof. Luoga said that Zoonotic diseases which include endemic, emerging, and re-emerging zoonosis are increasingly becoming a matter of huge public health concern and it is impossible to predict which zoonotic disease will occur at any given time, however, it is important to prepare for inevitable outbreaks and a key part of preparedness through capacity building to identify the pathogen (diagnosis) early at the original site before it spreads and cause a global pandemic.

“It is in this vein that the AfriqueOne-ASPIRE project has organized this important training to build capacity on pathogen diagnosis using the latest techniques and I believe this training will help to find students and staff who will be able to conduct research on these diseases and come up with a solution” Prof. Emmanuel Luoga

He added that based on previous experiences, Tanzania has come up with a list of priority zoonotic diseases on which to focus the preparedness including Rabies, Rift Valley Fever, and other Hemorrhagic fevers (Marbug and Ebola, zoonotic influenza, anthrax, Human African trypanosomiasis, and Brucellosis.

On his side, the Principal Investigator of the AfriqueOne-ASPIRE project Prof. Joram Buza said that the objective of the training is to provide advanced hands-on training on disease diagnosis using both serological (Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay (ELISA) and Rose Bengal) and molecular (quantitative polymerase chain reaction (qPCR)) techniques.

“This training is highly hands-on and each trainee will learn current laboratory practices in disease diagnosis,” said Prof. Buza