The goal of the project is to assess, develop and implement strategies to mitigate zoonotic threats that emerge or are exacerbated by environmental and climate change in Central Asian countries. This initiative aligns with the EU's broader goal of strengthening peace, security and stability by improving governance and cooperation in preventing, detecting and responding to CBRN (chemical, biological, radiological, and nuclear) threats.
The project activities are focused on four operational priorities:
- Threat analysis – determining the prevalence and scale of zoonotic diseases based on historical and current data.
- System strengthening – improving strategies, procedures, training and information campaigns on prevention and response.
- Intersectoral cooperation – creating a regional platform connecting veterinary, public health, agricultural and border control services within the One Health approach.
- Raising public awareness – developing and implementing educational activities on the risk of zoonotic diseases and ways to prevent them.
The University of Lodz is a leader of one of the task packages – “Identification and analysis of zoonotic diseases and inventory of existing entities and resources”, and additionally, an employee of the University of Lodz – Dr Marcin Niemcewicz (Biohazard Prevention Centre, University of Lodz) will serve as Key Expert No. 2.
The project manager on behalf of the University of Lodz is dr hab. Michał Bijak, Associate Professor at the University of Lodz (Biohazard Prevention Centre, University of Lodz)
Source: Biohazard Prevention Centre, University of Lodz
Edit: Mateusz Kowalski(Promotion Centre, Faculty of Biology and Environmental Protection, University of Lodz)
