The Director of the Center for Communicable Disease Control of the Ministry of Health, Dr Shahnam Arshi, along with the Deputy Director of Hamedan University of Medical Sciences, visited the Research Centre for Emerging and Reemerging Infectious Diseases of Pasteur Institute of Iran, located in the village of Akanlu, KabudarAhang County, Hamedan Province.

Dr Arshi stated that the Research Centre for Emerging and Reemerging Infectious Diseases of Pasteur Institute of Iran is one of the honours of the country's health and medical community, and said: With more interaction and support of this centre, the results of its research and monitoring should be used to improve the health of society.

Dr Fatemeh Turkman Asadi, The Deputy Director of Health at Hamedan University of Medical Sciences, also announced the readiness of Hamedan University of Medical Sciences for further cooperation with the Emerging and Reemerging Infectious Diseases of Pasteur Institute of Iran.

Dr Ehsan Mostafavi, director of the Emerging and Reemerging Infectious Diseases of Pasteur Institute of Iran, presented the history of the centre's activities and a report on the diagnostic, research and educational activities of this centre. Dr Mostafavi said: In the last few years, a new phase of the centre's activities has been formed, which resulted in the re-reporting of diseases such as Plague, Tularemia, Q fever, Bartonellosis, Borreliosis, and Rickettsiosis.

It should be noted that the research centre for emerging and re-emerging infectious diseases is one of the research centres affiliated with the Pasteur Institute of Iran, which was established in 1952 and is known as one of the reference centres for plague in the world. Since 2011 and in the new round of activities of the centre, the old buildings have been restored and the construction of laboratories and new buildings has been completed.  Following the establishment of rodentology, serology and molecular laboratories, a meeting hall and a guest house equipped with accommodation for 40 people, the Research Centre for Emerging and Reemerging Infectious Diseases, has turned into one of the most suitable centres in the country for research and education. In 2014, this centre was authorized as the national reference laboratory for plague, tularemia, and Q fever, and in 2016, its activities were extended to other emerging and re-emerging infectious diseases.