Vientiane Capital, 10^th of October 2025 – IPL hosted a workshop entitled “Surveillance and Characterization of Avian Influenza Viruses in Live Bird Markets of Lao PDR” from 29 September to 3 October 2025.

Organised with the support of the Institut Pasteur du Cambodge and the World Health Organization (WHO) Western Pacific Regional Office, the workshop brought together 17 participants from key public health, animal health, research, and government institutions across Laos.

The training was led by Dr. Erik Karlsson, Head of the Virology Unit at the Institut Pasteur du Cambodge, Dr. Jurre Siegers, Postdoctoral Fellow, and Mrs. Victoria Katawera, Technical Officer at the WHO Western Pacific Regional Office.

Participants received practical training in a range of laboratory techniques used for avian influenza surveillance and research. Wet laboratory sessions covered nucleic acid extraction, PCR screening, next-generation sequencing, and virus isolation and amplification using specific pathogen-free (SPF) embryonated eggs. Dry laboratory sessions focused on phylogenetic analysis and the identification of genetic mutations within avian influenza virus genome sequences.

The workshop welcomed participants from IPL, the National Center for Laboratory and Epidemiology (NCLE), the National Animal Health Laboratory (NAHL), the Lao Tropical and Public Health Institute (LTPHI), the Lao-Oxford-Mahosot-Wellcome Trust Research Unit (LOMWRU), the Centre d’Infectiologie Christophe Mérieux du Laos (CICML), as well as representatives from the Departments of Agriculture and Forestry of Vientiane Capital, Luang Prabang Province, and Champasak Province.

This initiative contributed to strengthening national and regional capacities for avian influenza surveillance, pathogen characterisation, and outbreak preparedness through interdisciplinary collaboration between public health and animal health stakeholders.

The workshop was jointly supported by the International Pathogen Surveillance Network (IPSN) of the World Health Organization and the French Embassy in Laos through the Fonds Équipe France Rapide (FEF-R) initiative.