The 2016 Berlin Workshop on Viral Haemorrhagic Fever in detail
From 4 to 6 April 2016, about 150 international experts met in Berlin to exchange current knowledge on viral haemorrhagic fevers. The workshop was organised by the Robert Koch Institute and the World Health Organization, supported by the German Federal Ministry of Health, and focused on Ebola virus disease and Crimean-Congo haemorrhagic fever.
Purpose of the workshop
The stated goal was to pool expert knowledge from around the world and make it accessible to health professionals. According to the German Federal Ministry of Health, better access to this knowledge was meant to improve the treatment of patients and help prevent outbreaks.
Viral haemorrhagic fevers are usually caused by infection with viruses such as Ebola, Lassa or yellow fever virus. They often involve bleeding and occur mainly in subtropical regions. The workshop started from the experience of the Ebola epidemic in West Africa and widened the discussion to haemorrhagic fevers more generally.
The six thematic areas
Lectures and working-group sessions covered six areas named in the ministry's announcement:
| Theme (2016) | What it addresses | Read more |
|---|---|---|
| Patient care | Clinical management of severely ill patients | VHF overview |
| Laboratory diagnostics | Confirming infection quickly and safely | Laboratory diagnostics |
| Long-term consequences after recovery | Health problems in survivors | Survivors & long-term effects |
| Protective measures | Preventing transmission, especially to health workers | Infection prevention & control |
| Public education | Informing people in affected areas | Community engagement |
| Communication with the population | Dialogue with communities in affected regions | Risk communication |
Why Crimean-Congo haemorrhagic fever was a focus
Alongside Ebola, CCHF was a declared focus of the meeting. The ministry described the disease as transmitted mainly by ticks or through contact with the meat or blood of infected animals. At risk are medical staff exposed to blood and people with frequent contact with ticks and host animals – for example agricultural and forestry workers – in regions such as Turkey, Russia, Central Asia, China and several African countries. Imported infections had been recorded only extremely rarely in Germany.
The core problem in 2016 was the absence of internationally recognised standards summarising current knowledge on CCHF, with knowledge gaps in prevention and therapy. The workshop therefore set out to collect expert knowledge on the clinical and infection-prevention management of CCHF. The results were to be bundled in a published report and made accessible to health professionals worldwide.
Disease details are on the page Crimean-Congo haemorrhagic fever.
The post-Ebola context
The ministry placed the workshop among Germany's measures in the post-Ebola process, as a building block for applying lessons from the Ebola epidemic in a sustainable way. The timing was close: WHO lifted the international emergency status for the West African Ebola situation on 29 March 2016, and Guinea was declared Ebola-free in June 2016. The final toll of that epidemic, according to CDC, was 28,652 cases and 11,325 deaths.
What followed the workshop
Work on CCHF standards continued. A WHO panel meeting to develop guidance on the clinical management of CCHF was co-hosted by the Robert Koch Institute and held in Berlin on 4–5 April 2017, co-chaired by the GRADE centre of the American University of Beirut. Later in 2017, the Second International Conference on CCHF in Thessaloniki covered epidemiology, ticks, animal hosts, clinical management, clinical trials and prevention.
In Europe, laboratory networks also published consensus views on CCHF diagnosis. A review drawing on the EMERGE and EVD-LabNet networks, with RKI authors, addressed biosafety, diagnostic algorithms and laboratory capability for CCHF.
What this archive does not cover
This site does not reproduce the original programme, the list of speakers, the venue details or presentation slides, because they could not be verified from current public sources. If you need the official record, contact the Robert Koch Institute directly. Statements about the workshop on this page are limited to what the German Federal Ministry of Health published on 4 April 2016 and to clearly identified later events.
Frequently asked questions
When and where did the workshop take place?
It took place in Berlin, Germany, from 4 to 6 April 2016.
What topics were discussed?
Patient care, laboratory diagnostics, long-term consequences after recovery, protective measures, public education and communication with the population in affected areas.
Why was CCHF on the agenda?
There were no internationally recognised standards summarising knowledge on CCHF, and there were gaps in prevention and therapy. The workshop aimed to collect expert knowledge on its clinical and infection-prevention management.
Was a report planned?
Yes. According to the German Federal Ministry of Health, the results on CCHF were to be bundled and published in a report for health professionals worldwide.
How was the workshop funded?
The ministry's announcement states that the workshop was supported by the German Federal Ministry of Health. Further budget details were not published there.
Sources
- German Federal Ministry of Health (BMG): Internationaler Expertenworkshop zu hämorrhagischen Fiebererkrankungen, 4 April 2016
- CDC: 2014–2016 Ebola Outbreak in West Africa
- WHO: Ebola outbreak 2014–2016 – West Africa
- AUB GRADE Center: WHO guidance on clinical management of CCHF – panel meeting in Berlin (April 2017)
- CDC Stacks: Second International Conference on Crimean-Congo Hemorrhagic Fever (Antiviral Research, 2018)
- RKI edoc: Laboratory management of CCHF virus infections – perspectives from two European networks