From 26 June to 07 July 2019, a joint team BNITM (Bernhard Nocht Institute for Tropical Medicine), Hamburg, Germany and FCRM (Congolese Foundation for Medical Research) participated in the first exploratory mission to Bomassa in the Kabo District, Sangha Department in the north of the Republic of Congo as part of the implementation of the activities of the PANDORA-ID-NET, a prelude to the start of the study on "Research the presence of antibodies against the Ebola virus and risk factors for Ebola infection in the river corridor in the Republic of Congo".
This mission, which coincided with the schedule of the WCS Field Team Immunization Campaign, was part of the "One Health" initiative and aimed to provide expertise on the state of Bomassa and explore other sites for further possible missions to accompany the PANDORA-ID-NET project in the northern part of the Republic of Congo (Ouesso, Makoua, Kabo, etc.). At the end of this mission, a meeting took place with the Departmental Directors of Health and Livestock of the region of Sangha, Republic of Congo on the necessity of conducting a possible study on zoonoses.
The BNITM/FCRM/WCS joint team that took part in this mission consisted of Dr. Béatriz Escudero-Perez, Virologist (BNITM-Germany), Mr. Peko Simon Marie (Molecular biologist, PhD student FCRM), Miss. Linne Lobaloba Ingobo (FCRM student) and Miss. Eeva Kuisma (WCS).
