US Naval Medical Unit No.3 (NAMRU-3) Cairo, Arab Republic of Egypt - Background Information

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US Naval Medical Unit No. 3 (NAMRU-3) Cairo, Arab Republic of Egypt - Background Information

U.S. Naval Medical Research Unit No.3 (NAMRU-3) conducts research and surveillance to support military personnel deployed to Africa, the Middle East, and Southwest Asia. The mission also includes the evaluation of vaccines, therapeutic agents, diagnostic assays, and vector control measures.
NAMRU-3, with its modern research laboratories and medical research library, is the only laboratory in Africa with an animal facility accredited by the American Association for Accreditation of Laboratory Animal Care. It is the largest DoD overseas laboratory, with BSL-3 bio-containment space and field and hospital study sites located throughout Egypt. There is also a malaria field site located in the upper east region of northern Ghana.

NAMRU-3 works closely with the Egyptian Ministry of Health and Population, the U.S. National Institutes of Health, the World Health Organization, the U.S Agency for International Development and the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. NAMRU-3 is also WHO Collaborating Center for HIV and Emerging Infectious Diseases.
On May 14th, 2007, NAMRU-3 officially became the 9th WHO H5N1 influenza laboratory, joining the CDC in Atlanta GA, St Jude's in Memphis TN, and other world class labs in London, Paris, Tokyo, Australia, and Hong Kong (2 labs).

NAMRU-3 established its presence in Egypt in 1942 when the U.S. Typhus Commission placed a research laboratory staffed by American scientists and technicians in Cairo. The laboratory played a major role in averting a serious typhus outbreak during and following World War II. After the war, the Navy was invited by the Egyptian Government to continue collaborative studies of endemic tropical and subtropical diseases. NAMRU-3 was formally established in 1946.

The mission of the Naval Medical Research Unit No. 3 (NAMRU-3) based in Cairo, Egypt, is to study, monitor, and detect emerging and re-emerging disease threats of military and public health importance; develop mitigation strategies against these threats in partnership with host nations and international and U. S. agencies in CENTCOM, EUCOM, and AFRICOM areas of responsibility. Our command plays a key role in enhancing the health, safety and readiness of DoD personnel assigned to Africa, the Middle East, and Southwest Asia in both peacetime and contingency missions.

The NAMRU-3 research facility is the first overseas DoD research laboratory to receive the College of American Pathologists (CAP) Laboratory Accreditation Itis the only research institution in North Africa with an AAALAC International (Association for Assessment and Accreditation of Laboratory Animal Care International) accredited animal facility and is one of only two institutions in Africa with a Biosafety Level 3 (BSL-3) laboratory. All animal research conducted a t this facility is subject to approval by an Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee (IACUC). Current protocols involving animal use include: tropical viral, bacterial and parasitic diseases; colonization of blood-feeding arthropods; tissue harvesting and techniques training. In addition to these assets, NAMRU-3 has modern research laboratories and a centralized medical library with access to the National Library of Medicine. All human research conducted by NAMRU-3 is reviewed and approved by duly constituted Institutional Review Boards (IRBs).

NAMRU-3 works closely with the Egyptian Ministry of Health, the U.S. National Institutes of Health (NIH), the World Health Organization (WHO), the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) and the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). NAMRU-3 has been a WHO Collaborating Center for HIV/AIDS since 1987. In 1999, a Global Emerging Infections System (GEIS) program was established which expanded NAMRU-3 mandate to include public health activities and capacity building in host countries. This in turn led to the recognition of NAMRU-3 as a WHO Collaborating Center for Emerging and Re-Emerging Infectious Diseases in 2001. NAMRU-3 also serves as a WHO reference laboratory for influenza and meningitis in the Eastern Mediterranean Region (EMRO).and in the process of being recognized as an H5 reference laboratory by WHO. NAMRU-3 began conducting joint malaria research projects with Ghana in 1995 and established a detachment there in 2001 with the aim of preparing skills and facilities for malaria vaccine trials. Research partnerships have also been established in Yemen, Saudi Arabia, Oman, Syria, Sudan, and the Republics of Ukraine, Uzbekistan, Kyrgistan, Kazakhstan, and Azerbaijan. NAMRU-3 is playing an important role in the global response to the threat of avian influenza and pandemic influenza and is currently active in monitoring infectious disease trends among DoD personnel deployed to operational bases in Turkey, Afghanistan, and Iraq. Over the last 10 years, NAMRU-3 has conducted 69 disease outbreak investigations in 25 different countries.

link: http://www.med.navy.mil/sites/namru3/Pages/namru3.aspx

links to other US Navy Medicine Facilities: http://www.med.navy.mil/Pages/NMFacilities.aspx
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