The Robert Koch Institute (RKI) and the International Society for Infectious Diseases (ISID’s) Program for Monitoring Emerging Diseases (ProMED) are proud to announce a new partnership to advance infectious disease surveillance capabilities throughout Africa. This joint effort will identify, train, and support three new experts with significant experience in the infectious disease field. These experts will focus their energy on the identification and review of information concerning infectious disease outbreaks in humans and animals. Given many infectious diseases cross from animals into humans, identifying and reporting disease outbreaks of One Health concern is key to protecting the health of both humans and animals. These professionals, termed “moderators”, will report outbreak information in a near real- time manner to an international audience via the ProMED infectious disease surveillance networks in Africa in multiple languages. As a result of this enhanced disease surveillance capacity, ProMED will enhance connections between healthcare professionals throughout the region to identify and respond to disease outbreaks in near real-time.

With over 25 years of experience reporting on infectious disease outbreaks in all corners of the globe, ProMED is a leader in the arena of disease surveillance. ProMED is freely accessible to all interested parties and supported through grants and individual donations. Thanks to the support of RKI, the addition of these new moderators will further strengthen ProMED’s capacity and regional reach.

"I was very impressed with a lecture Dr. Marjorie Pollack, ProMED’s Deputy Editor, gave in Geneva last year. I immediately saw the great potential for joint cooperation. After all, the international activities of the RKI and the work of ProMED complement each other perfectly. We were very happy that the German Ministry of Health, through its funding, gave us the opportunity to turn the idea of cooperation into reality," said Sandra Beermann, scientist at the Centre for International Health Protection at RKI.

To learn more about ProMED, please visit ProMEDmail.org today and sign up to receive free reports to stay informed on the latest infectious disease outbreaks.