Penn State’s College of Agricultural Sciences ran a two-week workshop on microbiological and molecular methods to find foodborne pathogens in dairy. Assistant professor Jasna Kovac led the sessions for staff from Addis Ababa University and the Ethiopian Public Health Institute. Kansas State’s Jessie Vipham helped design the course.
The training sat inside the ENSURE dairy-safety project awarded to Addis Ababa University by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and the United Kingdom’s Department for International Development. Kovac said the “train the trainer” model would support pathogen surveillance along Ethiopia’s dairy chain. Project leader Ashagrie Zewdu said the skills would help Ethiopia apply stronger detection methods at home.
Participants worked in the Rodney A. Erickson Food Science Building at University Park. The aim was practical: better lab capacity so Ethiopian agencies could watch milk and dairy products for pathogens that sicken consumers.
Sources: Penn State News