The Iraq Ministry of Health (MoH), the Ministry of Agriculture (MoA), and GHD| EMPHNET are collaborating to strengthen surveillance, diagnosis, and control of brucellosis in Iraq. Within this collaboration, they are working to strengthen laboratory-based surveillance of human and animal brucellosis in the country’s high-risk areas.

With support from GHD| EMPHNET, the MoH and the MoA, conducted training workshops on brucellosis testing targeting clinicians and laboratory technicians working within the provinces of Maysan and Wasit. These two provinces were targeted because they have recently witnessed outbreaks of brucellosis and were identified as high-risk areas because of their high animal population and their need for enhanced brucellosis diagnostics.

The first training was conducted at the Central Public Health Laboratory (CPHL) in Baghdad between December 17 and 18, 2017. Six laboratory technicians working at the Public Health Laboratories (PHLs) of Maysan and Wasit attended this workshop. These technicians were trained on diagnosing brucellosis using the ELISA test. While this was mainly a hands-on training for this test, it also included sessions pertaining to other serological methods used for the diagnosis of brucellosis and the protocol of sample collection, preservation and transportation from the PHLs in Maysan and Wasit to the CPHL in Baghdad.

On December 18, 2017, at the Public Health Directorate of Wasit, a refresher training was conducted on brucellosis case identification and diagnosis for clinicians working in the Comprehensive Health Center (CHC) in the province. Participants were updated on topics related to brucellosis case definition, transmission and diagnosis; referral of suspected samples tested by Rose Bengal at the CHC to the Public health laboratory (PHL) for ELISA test. During the same training, focus was also given to the different aspects of filling the investigation form. Other topics covered included the epidemiology of brucellosis in animals and the mode of the transmission from animals to human, with focus on the last outbreak that happened in Wasit in November 2017.

With a similar training agenda, another training was conducted on December 20, 2017 for clinicians from Maysan province.

On December 19, 2017, a training was conducted for laboratory technicians from the CHC in Wasit province. These were given theoretical and practical training on brucellosis primary testing diagnosis using the Rose Bengal test and other serological testing.

They were also trained on how to correctly collect and document the laboratory results by sending it to the surveillance unit, following up on patients taking their prescribed medication properly, and sending the proper samples to the PHL in Wasit for ELISA testing. A similar training was conducted for laboratory technicians from the CHC in Maysan on December 21, 2017. These participants were also trained on the Rose Bengal test, serological tests for brucellosis, and the proper collection and documentation of laboratory results and sending the proper samples to the PHL in Maysan for ELISA testing.

This series of training represents the strong collaboration between the human and the animal health sectors, who are working towards the goal of controlling brucellosis in high-risk areas within Iraq, thus contributing to better public health and reducing economic loss.