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FIN–TZ MOBLAB

Emerging, re-emerging and endemic infectious diseases place a significant burden on public health systems in Tanzania. The collaboration between the Finnish Centre for Military Medicine and the Tanzania Veterinary Laboratory Authority is building local laboratory capacity to fight against biothreats – no matter of their origin – strengthens health and biosecurity also globally.After having qPCR capacity established in five TVLA zonal laboratories with laboratory personnel trained in diagnostics and biosafety & biosecurity in its first two phases (2014–2024). FIN-TZ MOBLAB now in its third phase (2025-2028) focuses on strengthening biosafety, biosecurity, and developing a mobile laboratory capacity to enhance the diagnostic capacity of the TVLA in remote areas.

IFBA’s Continued Partnership with Global Affairs Canada to Advance Biosafety and Biosecurity in Africa

The International Federation of Biosafety Associations (IFBA) is pleased to announce the continuation of its partnership with Global Affairs Canada through a renewed two-year investment to further strengthen biosafety and biosecurity capacity in Africa.

Building on previous success, this next phase will expand and sustain key initiatives already underway—supporting the development of a skilled, diverse, and inclusive workforce equipped to prevent biological threats, reduce laboratory risks, and respond to high-consequence infectious disease outbreaks.

The project will continue to advance two core areas:      

• Cultivating the biosafety and biosecurity profession in Africa by supporting and strengthening Africa’s first dedicated undergraduate program in biosafety and biosecurity at Masinde Muliro University of Science and Technology, developed under the Signature Initiative to Mitigate Biological Threats in Africa (SIMBA).
• Sustaining global commitment to gender-equitable biological threat reduction by continuing support for the GP Women’s Network in Africa and strengthening it’s engagement with global health security frameworks such as the Biological and Toxin Weapons Convention.

This renewed support ensures momentum is maintained and scaled—reinforcing IFBA’s commitment to long-term, sustainable impact in addressing evolving biological risks worldwide.

IFBA gratefully acknowledges the ongoing support of Global Affairs Canada in advancing global efforts to strengthen biosafety, biosecurity, and equitable participation in health security.

IFBA Strengthens Collaboration with WOAH to Advance Biological Risk Management in Africa  

The International Federation of Biosafety Associations (IFBA) is pleased to highlight its ongoing collaboration with the World Organisation for Animal Health (WOAH) to strengthen biological risk management capacity across Africa.

As IFBA’s Africa Regional Program Coordinator, Ray Kayaga has played a central role in this partnership. Last year, he co-facilitated the development and validation of Kenya’s National Biological Risk Management Guidelines for Field Animal Health Service Providers—the first guidelines of their kind globally. He has also contributed as a subject‑matter expert on field biological risk management during WOAH‑organised national trainings in Zimbabwe, supporting emergency management and response for district veterinary officers and strengthening disease surveillance competencies for veterinary extension officers.

These efforts are not only advancing the frontline role of the animal health sector in biological threat reduction but are also reinforcing IFBA’s broader impact. Ray is currently teaching a third‑year course on biosafety and biosecurity in outbreak field laboratory settings within the BSc in Biosafety and Biosecurity program at Masinde Muliro University of Science and Technology, helping to build the next generation of biosafety professionals.

IFBA gratefully acknowledges the support of the Global Affairs Canada’s Weapons Threat Reduction Program, whose partnership has enabled this important work and continues to strengthen biosafety and biosecurity systems across the continent.

International Centre for Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology (ICGEB)

As part of its global efforts to enhance biological security, ICGEB continues to strengthen national and regional capacities under the BIO‑GUARD framework. Recent Pathogen Detection and Biosecurity training courses were held in Cape Town (December 2025) and Trieste (February 2026), delivered in partnership with the UNODA Biological Weapons Convention (BWC) and supported by Norway and the United Kingdom. These activities brought together early to mid-career professionals from over 30 countries, including representatives from Africa, Asia, Europe, and the Latin Americas, Central Asia and Mongolia, to build practical skills in molecular detection tools, genomic surveillance, outbreak and biosecurity event response.

ICGEB is further reinforcing national biosecurity systems through the establishment of Bio-Threat Response Units (BRUs) within existing laboratories. In 2025, with support from the Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Zimbabwe and Kenya received grants to strengthen preparedness and response in line with Article VII of the Biological Weapons Convention.

INTERPOL Bioterrorism Prevention Unit’s support to SIMBA

INTERPOL Global Biosecurity Enhancement Programme for Law Enforcement

In 2023, INTERPOL Bioterrorism Prevention Unit (BTPU) launched its Global Biosecurity Enhancement Programme for Law Enforcement funded by Global Affairs Canada, the United Kingdom Ministry of Defense, the United States Defence Threat Reduction Agency, and the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs. This five-year programme aims to enhance the capabilities of national law enforcement and partner agencies to prevent, prepare for and respond to biological threats and incidents, including bioterrorism. In order to achieve this, BTPU is applying an enhanced intelligence-driven approach to properly identify threats and guide the selection of beneficiary countries.

Under this Programme, ten countries beneficiary countries benefit from tailored capacity-building activities, including Morocco, Nigeria and Tunisia (in Africa).

Recent Activities Implemented Under The Programme In Africa

• Train-the-Trainer Course on Biological Incident Triggers and Indicators, Tunis, Tunisia, 1-4 December 2025

BTPU delivered this training to establish a pool of certified trainers capable of equipping frontliners with essential knowledge on triggers and indicators of biological incidents. The course, aligned with Tunisia’s national action plan, trained participants from Forensic police, National guards, Customs, Civil protection, Animal health, Plant health, Human health lab, Higher education lab. Through the delivery of this course, BTPU also raised the awareness of participants, including non-certified attendees, on the detection and prevention of biological incidents affecting humans, animals and plants.

Following this activity, the Programme moves to its final phase for Tunisia (evaluation).

• Biological Threats posed by Foreign Terrorist Fighters, Abuja, Nigeria, 23-26 March 2026

This workshop, representing the final capacity building activity under the current Programme cycle for Nigeria, built on three previous engagements in Nigeria: the Bioterrorism Risks and Controls Workshop, Biological Crime Scene Management Training, and the Joint Criminal and Epidemiological Investigations Workshop. The activity brought together national stakeholders from law enforcement and relevant partner agencies to strengthen understanding of biological threats linked to foreign terrorist fighters, with a focus on detection, investigation, and interagency coordination.

Following this activity, the Programme moves to its final phase for Nigeria (evaluation).

• Train the Trainer Course on Biological Crime Scene Management Course, Ifrane, Morocco, 6-9 April 2026

This hybrid training, combining online courses and a 4-day face-to-face session, aims to create a group of trainers capable of providing operational staff with essential information on how to intervene at bio-contaminated crime scenes by applying biosafety and biosecurity best practices. Participants will review and enhance their knowledge in this area while receiving instruction on program development, teaching techniques and effective strategies related to ongoing professional development.

Following this activity, a Biosecurity Simulation Exercise is scheduled to take place in Morocco in September 2026, as the final capacity building activity for Morocco within the current Programme cycle.

Relevant Activities Involving INTERPOL Outside The Programme

• Tackling Agro-Crime: Strategic Planning Workshop for Veterinary Services and Law Enforcement, Harare, Zimbabwe, 25-28 November 2025

As the World Organisation for Animal Health’s (WOAH) co-developer of an agrocrime collaboration roadmap to support veterinary services and law enforcement in addressing animal agrocrime, BTPU supported the development and organisation of a regional workshop held on 25-28 November 2025 under WOAH Fortifying Institutional Resilience Against Biological Threats (FIRABioT) project. The event brought together 54 veterinarians and law enforcement officers from the following African countries: Algeria, Congo, Kenya, Madagascar, Malawi, Morocco, Namibia, Tanzania, and Zimbabwe.

Its aim was to pilot this roadmap and aims to foster cooperation between law enforcement and veterinary services in the fight against agrocrime.

The 9 countries learned about the specificities of the 9 types of agrocrime, including agroterrorism, the roles and responsibilities of veterinary services and law enforcement as well as benefits of their collaboration in tackling agrocrime and drafted specific country roadmap based on the joint WOAH-INTERPOL guiding document. The roadmap proved useful and feedback from country representatives and SMEs will enhance the document. Its publication in English is foreseen for third quarter of 2026. Participants expressed interest in maintaining information and experience sharing in the area of agrocrime and requested the support of INTERPOL and WOAH in maintaining the international and interagency dialogue and support and expand its reach beyond Africa.

• Regional Training on the Investigation of Suspicious Biological Events, Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, 21-24 April 2026

In support of the above-mentioned roadmap to support veterinary services and law enforcement in addressing animal agrocrime, BTPU is supporting WOAH to receive law enforcement nominations to this upcoming regional training in April. The event aims to support the practical implementation of national agro-crime roadmaps, to build awareness of suspicious biological events including their triggers and indicators, to understand the key components of investigations of suspicious biological events including joint actions, as well as to foster stronger relationships between Law Enforcement and Veterinary Services, both within countries and across borders.

The training will bring together law enforcement and veterinary services representatives from Algeria, Congo (Rep.), Kenya, Madagascar, Malawi, Morocco, Namibia, Tanzania, and Zimbabwe.

• Additionally, BTPU provided support to the Health Security Partnership in Africa (HSPA), by reviewing an occasional paper titled “One-Health and Biological Threats: Productive Ways Forward”, by offering a law enforcement perspective and ensuring that agrocrime was correctly incorporated in this strategic paper that look at strengthening biosecurity on the African continent through a web of prevention that is more inclusive and builds on existing governance systems.

CEPI and Africa CDC collaboration

CEPI and Africa CDC have embarked on a second year of collaborative activities, guided by the CEPI-Africa CDC MOU and accompanied Joint Action Plan. Among other pillars related to research capacity strengthening, policy dialogue, emergency preparedness and vaccine manufacturing, there is a dedicated suite of activities for laboratory systems strengthening and biosecurity. After successfully completing all scheduled efforts for 2025, biosecurity activities for 2026 include support for regional training of trainers as well as certification in specific competencies; national workshops to develop High Consequence Agent and Toxins (HCAT) lists; implementation of a pilot waste water surveillance initiative for priority pathogens; and AI biosecurity pilot projects.

CEPI Central Laboratory Network to meeting in Cape Town 16-18 June 2026

In Cape Town, South Africa between 16-18 June 2026, CEPI will host the first joint meeting of its Centralized Laboratory Network and Pre-clinical Models Network – collectively representing over 30 research and clinical laboratories from more than 20 countries. African members of the networks include the International Livestock Research Institute (Kenya), Kenya AIDS Vaccine Initiative (Kenya), the National Institute for Biomedical Research (INRB in French, Democratic Republic of the Congo), North-West University (South Africa), the Pasteur Institute of Dakar (Senegal), Synexa (South Africa), and the Uganda Virus Research Institute (Uganda).  

The meeting will include biosecurity as one of three core themes for discussion, alongside quality and sustainability, and will also involve a table-top exercise to examine network preparedness in an outbreak response scenario. In addition to reviewing progress in implementing CEPI’s pilot ISO 35001 program and the roll-out of the Biosecurity Policy, the meeting will provide an opportunity to expand and strengthen CEPI’s Biosecurity Community of Practice (BCOP), whereby participants can share information, resources, best practices and innovations in support of safe, secure and responsible vaccine research, development and manufacturing.        

Senior African leaders roundtable on Biodefence, Biosecurity and Bioresilience and the 100 Days Mission

CEPI and African partners, with the Brown Pandemic Center, are working to engage defense, health and security stakeholders from Africa to discuss shared priorities and support for the safe, secure, and equitable implementation of the 100 Days Mission. Focusing on health security and defence leaders from across the African continent, participants will include experts and senior leaders from the AU, Africa CDC, WHO AFRO and other regional institutions, including ministries of defence and national security experts.  

The event is currently in its planning phase and is anticipated to be held in Q3 of 2026.

This initiative is one of a series of partnerships announced by CEPI in support of its inaugural Biosecurity Strategy.