Amman, Jordan  –   The Defense Threat Reduction Agency (DTRA) and the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan’s Ministry of Agriculture (MoA) conducted a ceremony observing the formal conclusion of the Electronic Integrated Disease Surveillance System (EIDSS) project in Amman, Jordan on August 5. The ceremony marked the transition to full MoA operation and ownership of the system. The equipment, software, and training DTRA provided will enable Jordanian veterinarians and animal health professionals to operate a networked disease reporting system that is exclusively accessible to the Government of Jordan. This ensures timely and effective disease reporting critical in responding to high-threat pathogens.

Remarks were delivered by Dr. Ada A. Bacetty, Department Chief of the Biological Threat Reduction Program (BTRP), Brigadier General Tawfeeq al-Eqail, Head of the International Cooperation Department at the Jordanian Armed Forces, and Engineer Misbah al-Tarawneh, Assistant Secretary General for Livestock at the MoA. Before the ceremony, the BTRP team also met with MoA Secretary General, Engineer Mohammed Hiari.

Dr. Bacetty thanked His Excellency the Minister of Agriculture, Engineer Khalid Hneifat, for his leadership throughout the partnership and recognized the contributions of other Jordanian partners, including the Jordanian Armed Forces Directorate of Planning and Organization, the Ministry of Health, and the Jordan Center for Disease Control.

Dr. Bacetty commented on BTRP’s strong partnership with the Government of Jordan and its path moving forward as a regional leader in biological threat reduction.

“While BTRP is concluding its bilateral projects in Jordan, we have full confidence in Jordan’s ability to serve as a regional biological threat reduction leader and we intend to maintain our close ties” said Dr. Bacetty.
 
For more information on DTRA programs, visit www.dtra.mil