icipe launches East Africa’s first Emerging Infectious Diseases Lab

A laboratory that will research and monitor emerging infectious diseases (EIDs) such as yellow fever and dengue has been set up in East Africa — in an attempt to tackle growing vector-borne health threats in the region. The Martin Lüscher Laboratory for Emerging Infectious Diseases was launched with support from the German and Swiss governments at the International Centre of Insect Physiology and Ecology (icipe) in Kenya, last month (16 September), and is expected to add capacity to respond to disease outbreaks.

"This laboratory will improve risk detection, response capacity and research capability for key arbovirus [transmitted by arthropods, such as insects] disease agents in Kenya and the region," said Rosemary Sang, a researcher at icipe. "It will also train MSc and PhD students under the centre's capacity building programmes."
She said that icipe has focused mainly on human parasitic diseases such as malaria, leishmaniasis and trypanosomiasis (sleeping sickness), which are all vector-borne, and is well placed to cover other diseases spread by insects such as mosquitoes and ticks. read on: http://www.scidev.net/en/news/kenya-fills-research-gap-on-emerging-diseases.html

On 16th September 2011, icipe inaugurated the 'Martin Lüscher Laboratory for Emerging Infectious Diseases' at the Centre’s headquarters in Duduville, Kasarani, Nairobi. The laboratory, which has been constructed with financial support from the Swiss and German governments, puts icipe on the path towards becoming a Centre of Excellence in emerging infectious diseases, joining the few existing laboratories on the continent that provide such a resource. The facility is named after Prof. Martin Lüscher, a long term friend and supporter of icipe. Indeed, he served as the Centre’s first Director of Research. Prof. Lüscher was also one of the world's most distinguished termite research scientists, and through this expertise he made remarkable contribution to icipe and to environmental sciences in Africa. read on: http://www.icipe.org/news/489-launch-of-east-africas-first-laboratory-of-emerging-infectious-diseases.html