Cuba hosts international course on leptospirosis

HAVANA, Cuba, May 25 (ACN) Sponsored by the Pedro Kourí Institute of Tropical Medicine (IPK) and the Cuban Society of Microbiology and Parasitology, the 10th International Course on Leptospirosis Havana 2022, focused on discussions about the most relevant aspects of zoonoses with a view to developing early-warning systems and preventive measures at regional level, started its sessions in this city with the participation of renowned professors from Argentina, France and the United States, among others.

Epidemiology; Microbiology; Conventional, serological, molecular and advanced diagnostics; Prevention and control programs; vaccines and resistance to antimicrobials and other drugs used to treat zoonoses outstand as the main topics in the scientific program, which also includes theoretical debates, lectures and exhibitions related to clinical and therapeutic issues, serious case management, most frequent clinical complications and the infection of children and pregnant women.

Zoonotic diseases account for 60% of human and animal infection, and they not only take a health toll but also lead to considerable economic loss due to their effects on animal production.

Cuba has in place zoonosis surveillance, prevention and control programs—including one on leptospirosis since 1981—that cover viral diseases such as yellow fever, West Nile fever, Lassa fever, avian influenza (SARS virus), hantavirus and rabies, as well as brucellosis, borreliosis,
campylobacteriosis, anthrax, Mediterranean spotted fever (rickettsiosis), Rocky Mountain fever (rickettsiosis), anthrax (rickettsiosis), Q fever, Erlichiosis, bubonic plague, psittacosis, salmonellosis and tularemia among the bacterial ones.