Helping to build vector surveillance programs in the former USSR

The Defense Threat Reduction Agency (DTRA) Biological Threat Reduction Program (BTRP) supports the development of active and passive surveillance programs focused on especially dangerous pathogens (EDPs), primarily in countries of the former USSR. Many of these EDPs are vector-borne and Department of Defense (DoD) entomological personnel have been involved in implementing training programs that build capabilities for sustainable programs to enable host-country scientists to conduct EDP surveillance, recognize and report outbreaks, and generate disease risk assessments. BTRP also supports collaborative research projects between host-country scientists, US academic institutions and DoD scientists that aim to determine disease baselines and prevalence and to use these data to develop country-wide risk assessments and predictive maps. Discussion will focus on current efforts in Azerbaijan, Republic of Georgia, and Ukraine.