6 December 2013
The seminar was co-organized by the Polish Academy of Sciences and the Military Institute of Hygiene and Epidemiology, under the patronage of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Poland. Its main goal was to promote international cooperation between the public health sector, law enforcement officers, and the authorities responsible for security issues. The framework for the seminar was the prevention, rapid identification of an outbreak’s source, and the tracing of its origin. Furthermore, the meeting was an excellent opportunity to exchange opinions and experiences among the experts present about epidemic surveillance and microbial forensics, as well as about education programs on biosafety and biosecurity concerns. The seminar was addressed mainly to the representatives of the public health sector, including medical doctors and epidemiologists, those from the national security sector, and representatives from institutions dealing with public health and bioterrorism.