A Summer School in Sudan: Strengthening the Research on a Neglected Disease in Sub-Saharan Africa
Mycobacterium avium subsp. paratuberculosis (MAP) causes a chronic, progressive and always lethal enteritis, especially in ruminants. It leads to serious economic losses in agriculture.
The zoonotic potential of MAP is not clear yet, the disease, however, is often discussed in context with Morbus Crohn in humans, albeit this suspicion has not yet been verified. In Africa, MAP is underrated despite its known impact on domestic and wild animal populations. Moreover, human exposure to MAP is poorly studied.
With the support of the Volkswagen Foundation, the Division of Microbiology and Animal Hygiene, University of Göttingen, Germany, and University of Khartoum, Sudan, have organised a summer school to arouse interest in MAP research in Sub-Saharan Africa. Twenty-seven PhD students from Ethiopia, Uganda, Malawi, Kenya, Senegal, Nigeria and Sudan attended the summer school on February 11 – February 21, 2017 at the Coral Khartoum hotel, Sudan.
Distinguished speakers from USA, Germany, Denmark, France, Bahrain, Sudan, Egypt, Kenya and Uganda presented their research ideas in addition to interactive sessions for the students to discuss their MAP research projects. During the closing ceremony, the Africa Society for Paratuberculosis was founded; hitherto, more than 2,600 students and scientists are following the society page on Facebook.
Further information can be found here.
Contact:
Prof. Dr. Dr. Claus-Peter Czerny (cczerny@gwdg.de)
Dr. Ahmed Abd El Wahed (abdelwahed@gwdg.de)