On February 12, 2026, an international workshop titled "Plague in Southwestern Eurasia and the Mediterranean: Foci, Reservoirs, Trade, Demography, and Epidemiology" was held at İbn Haldun University (IHU) in Türkiye, with support from the University of Oslo, Norway. The event brought together researchers and experts from Norway, Türkiye, Iran, Germany, the United States, France, Italy, China, Bangladesh, Guatemala, and India. Discussions centered on the epidemiology and modeling of plague, the evolutionary history of its causative agent, Yersinia pestis, and the historical impact of the disease across the Eurasia and Mediterranean regions. Opening the meeting, the conference's main coordinator, namely, Professor Nils Christian Stenseth from the University of Oslo, underscored the critical need for international collaboration to advance research on plague epidemiology and the evolution of Yersinia pestis.

Dr. Saber Esmaeili, Head of the Research Center for Emerging and Reemerging Diseases at the Pasteur Institute of Iran and Director of the National Reference Laboratory for Plague, Tularemia, and Q Fever, then delivered a presentation titled "Emergence and Re-emergence of Plague in the 21^st Century." In his presentation, he examined the evolutionary trajectory of Y. pestis over time and provided a comprehensive overview of the key epidemiological aspects of the disease. Following Dr. Esmaeili, Dr. Ahmad Mahmoudi, a faculty member at Urmia University in Iran, presented findings from plague surveillance efforts in the country. Dr. Mahmoudi, who collaborates closely with the Pasteur Institute of Iran's Research Center for Emerging and Reemerging Diseases on wildlife plague monitoring, detailed the team's achievements in studying the disease's reservoirs and its dynamics in wild animal populations. It is noteworthy that the participation of the Iranian researchers was facilitated by a joint memorandum of understanding between the Pasteur Institute of Iran and the University of Oslo.