Report of the First Meeting of the Middle East and Eastern Europe Rabies Expert Bureau, Istanbul, Turkey (June 8-9, 2010)

• Main Authors: Orhan Aylan, Aly Fahmy Mohamed El-Sayed, Firouzeh Farahtaj, Ali R. Janani, Olga Lugach, Olgha Tarkhan-Mouravi, Gaye Usluer, Rodovan Vodopija, Nenad Vranjes, Noël Tordo, Betty Dodet
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: Hindawi Limited 2011-01-01
• Series: Advances in Preventive Medicine
• Online Access: http://dx.doi.org/10.4061/2011/812515
• ISSN: 2090-3499

Rabies is a threat in all parts of the world where animal reservoirs persists, including Eastern Europe and the Middle East. Rabies experts from seven Middle East and Eastern European countries (Croatia, Egypt, Georgia, Iran, Serbia, Turkey, and Ukraine) met for two days in Istanbul, Turkey (June 8-9, 2010), to exchange information on the epidemiological situation concerning human and animal rabies in their respective countries and to discuss strategies for rabies elimination and control. They decided to establish a regional network, the Middle East and Eastern Europe Rabies Expert Bureau (MEEREB), a regional network of experts, to increase collaboration in rabies prevention and control at the local, regional, and global levels.