SATREPS

BACKGROUND: Bas-Congo virus (BASV), an emerging tibrovirus, was associated with an outbreak of acute haemorrhagic fever in Mangala, Democratic Republic of the Congo, in 2009. In 2012, neutralising antibodies to BASV were detected in the lone survivor and one of his close contacts. However, subsequent serological and molecular surveys were unsuccessful as neither BASV antibodies nor its RNA were detected. In this study, we determined the seroprevalence of BASV infection in Mangala 13 years after the initial outbreak...

Among western African countries, the Republic of Ghana has maintained an economic growth rate of 5% since the 1980s and is now categorized as a middle-income country. However, as with other developing countries, Ghana still has challenges in the effective implementation of surveillance for infectious diseases. Facing public health emergencies of international concern (PHEIC), it is crucial to establish a reliable sample transportation system to the referral laboratory. Previously, surveillance capacity in Ghana was limited based on Integrated Disease Surveillance and Response, and therefore the "Surveillance and Laboratory Support for Emerging Pathogens of Public Health Importance in Ghana (SLEP)" was introduced to strengthen diarrhea surveillance...

Microorganisms in nature are highly diverse biological resources, which can be explored for drug discovery. Some countries including Brazil, Columbia, Indonesia, China, and Mexico, which are blessed with geographical uniqueness with diverse climates and display remarkable megabiodiversity, potentially provide microorganismal resources for such exploitation. In this review, as an example of drug discovery campaigns against tropical parasitic diseases utilizing microorganisms from such a megabiodiversity country, we summarize our past and on-going activities toward discovery of new antimalarials...

Status of the current outbreak of cassava mosaic disease (CMD) in Southeast Asia was reviewed. Healthy cassava seed production and dissemination systems have been established in Vietnam and Cambodia, along with integrated disease and pest management systems, to combat the outbreak. Cassava (Manihot esculenta Crantz) is one of the most important edible crops in tropical and subtropical regions. Recently, invasive insect pests and diseases have resulted in serious losses to cassava in Southeast Asia. In this review we discuss the current outbreak of cassava mosaic disease (CMD) caused by the Sri Lankan cassava mosaic virus (SLCMV) in Southeast Asia, and summarize similarities between SLCMV and other cassava mosaic begomoviruses...

Ghana-Tokyo Medical and Dental University Research Collaboration Center has been established since 2008 when our Program was chosen together with the Program in the Philippines proposed by Tohoku University as an additional small-scale research center of the Overseas Research Program on Emerging and Reemerging Diseases that is funded by the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology of the Japanese Government and started in 2005. This 5-year government-supported Program has changed its name to develop into a more active world-level program called Japan Initiative for Global Research Network on Infectious Diseases (J-GRID) and entered the second 5-year phase in 2010, and our Program is playing an important role among other research centers located in Asia and Africa...

Kobe-Indonesia Collaborative Research Center was established in Institute of Tropical Disease (ITD), Airlangga University, Surabaya, Indonesia in 2007 under the program of ''Founding Research Centers for Emerging and Reemerging Infectious Diseases'' supported by the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology, Japan, and then it has been under the Japan Initiative for Global Research Network on Infectious Diseases (J-GRID) since 2010. Japanese researchers have been stationed at ITD, conducting joint researches on influenza, viral hepatitis, dengue and infectious diarrhea...

Thailand-Japan Research Collaboration Center on Emerging and Re-emerging Infections (RCC-ERI) was established in 2005 as a research collaboration center cooperated by Research Institute for Microbial Diseases (RIMD), Osaka University and Department of Medical Sciences, Ministry of Public Health of Thailand. In addition, Mahidol-Osaka Center for Infectious Diseases (MOCID) was established in 2010, also as another research collaboration center cooperated by RIMD, Osaka University and Faculty of Tropical Medicine, Mahidol University...