Ignacio López-Goñi, professor and microbiologist of the School of Medicine of the University of Navarra and researcher of the Institute of Tropical Health, has given a seminar on the latest advances in diagnostic techniques and molecular epidemiology of Brucella -the bacterium that causes brucellosis or Malta fevers- at the Kazakh Scientific Center for Quarantine and Zoonotic Diseases, in Almaty (Kazahastan).

During the first week of September Ignacio López-Goñi gave theoretical and practical classes on the application of the PCR technique for the detection and typing of Brucella.

The Kazakh Scientific Center for Quarantine and Zoonotic Diseases has been working on the diagnosis, treatment and prophylaxis of infectious diseases of special relevance, such as plague, cholera, tularemia, anthrax or brucellosis for more than 60 years. "The independence of Kazahastan from the USSR in 1991 has meant a great challenge for the country, also for its system educational and research. In addition, for a few years, vaccination campaigns of animals against brucellosis were suspended, which has led to an increase of issue cases of the disease, also in humans. For this reason, this research center that serves as a central laboratory with brucellosis is working on implementing improvements in the diagnosis and molecular detection of the bacterium," explains the professor.

His stay also served to share with the Kazakh center the experience in this field accumulated by the department of Microbiology and Parasitology and by the specific line of research on Brucella developed by the Institute of Tropical Health of the University of Navarra. Specifically, the expert addressed the development and application of new molecular systems that allow to detect and distinguish between the different species of Brucella, including vaccine strains, specifically for the needs of a country like Kazakhstan.