The Winnipeg-based International Centre for Infectious Diseases is hosting 24 research scientists from around the globe who came to learn about the safe handling of dangerous bacteria and viruses - pathogens that could not only kill them if manipulated improperly but also cause widespread human and economic destruction if they escaped from their laboratories.
Les Wittmeier, a director at the Canadian Science Centre for Human and Animal Health, said the need for such expertise has never been greater. Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS), foot-and-mouth disease, the ebola virus and anthrax are just a few examples of pathogens that resulted in wide-spread panic and deaths in recent years.
"We live in a world of no borders for infectious diseases," he said, noting there is currently a waiting list of about 150 people still looking to take part in the training. The same number of people have completed the course since it was first offered six years ago.
Terry Duguid, president and CEO of the ICID, said the kind of hands-on training it provides can only be found in a few places internationally.
"The world beats a path to Winnipeg to learn about bio-safety. We have a global reputation for infectious disease work. This is our contribution to world health," he said.
Duguid said the outbreak of SARS, a respiratory disease that infected more than 8,000 people and killed nearly 800 between November 2002 and the summer of 2003, is arguably the highest-profile example of pathogen wreaking havoc after escaping from a laboratory. It caused billions of dollars of damage to the global economy, he said.
The specialists attending the week-long seminar came from Austria, China, Denmark, Germany, India, Kenya, Kyrgyzstan, Mexico, Norway, Philippines, Russia, Japan and the U.S. A trio were paraded out at a press conference to showcase the latest in protective gear for lab workers.
Hazel Galang, medical technologist and head of the virology department at the Research Institute for Tropical Medicine in the Philippines, said she attended the conference in order to oversee the construction of a new bio-safety plant in Manilla.
"(The ICID) is a high-end institution. I need to see what they are doing here and how safety is being instituted. (ICID) is the one facility in the world that has a good training program for a bio-safety officer," she said.
geoff.kirbyson@freepress.mb.ca
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