This practical course covered outbreak investigation, pandemic planning, recent developments in respiratory pathogen biology and therapy, and focused around two practical scenarios in which participants could gain experience in managing an acute epidemic.

The main objective of the course was to strengthen capacity in EU Member States for control of healthcare-associated infections due to multidrug-resistant organisms (MDROs) in acute health care settings and to promote the broadest possible implementation of appropriate methods.

The “Cross-sectoral biorisk awareness and mitigation training” was a 2 and a half days regional course organized by ECDC and EUROPOL.

The ECDC Summer School is organised yearly for experts within the ECDC networks with the aim to build EU/EEA Member States’ public health capacity in the area of communicable diseases. Every year meaningful topics are selected based on Member States’ identified needs. The Summer School provides an opportunity for networking and scientific exchange.

ECDC is organising a short course on “Control of multidrug-resistant micro-organisms (MDROs) in health care settings”. This training opportunity is addressed at healthcare professionals from European Union (EU) and European Economic Area (EEA) countries with current or future responsibility for the prevention and control of healthcare-associated infections (HAIs) due to MDROs working at national or local level. The course is offered by invitation only and participants are identified through the ECDC Coordinating Competent Bodies.