Senior laboratory experts, Zelalem Mekuria, Joan Miquel Balada-Llasat and Tadesse Eguale from the Global One Health initiative provided laboratory real time PCR training for six microbiologists from Ethiopian Public Health Institute (EPHI), Addis Ababa, in an effort to improve laboratory capacity. The training was conducted as part of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)-funded Global Action in Healthcare Network Antimicrobial Resistance project.  

The main focus of the training was building capacity of microbiologists from the National Reference Laboratory on detection of major enzymes involved in resistance to carbapenem antimicrobials among carbapenem producing carbapenem resistant enterobacteria, according to CDC protocol.  Training was held January 24-27 at EPHI’s microbiology laboratory. Training involved theoretical and practical demonstrations where trainees were able to understand the principle of real time PCR and demonstrated their ability to implement newly acquired skills.