A Case History in Cooperative Biological Research: Compendium of Studies and Program Analyses in Kazakhstan

Kazakhstan and the United States have partnered since 2003 to counter the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction. The US Department of Defense (US DoD) has funded threat reduction programs to eliminate biological weapons, secure material in repositories that could be targeted for theft, and enhance surveillance systems to monitor infectious disease outbreaks that would affect national security. The cooperative biological research (CBR) program of the US DoD’s Biological Threat Reduction Program has provided financing, mentorship, infrastructure, and biologic research support to Kazakhstani scientists and research institutes since 2005. The objective of this paper is to provide a historical perspective for the CBR involvement in Kazakhstan, including project chronology, successes and challenges to allow lessons learned to be applied to future CBR endeavors. A project compendium from open source data and interviews with partner country Kazakhstani participants, project collaborators, and stakeholders was developed utilizing studies from 2004 to the present. An earlier project map was used as a basis to determine project linkages and continuations during the evolution of the CBR program. It was determined that consistent and effective networking increases the chances to collaborate especially for competitive funding opportunities. Overall, the CBR program has increased scientific capabilities in Kazakhstan while reducing their risk of biological threats. However, there is still need for increased scientific transparency and an overall strategy to develop a capability-based model to better enhance and sustain future research. Finally, we offer a living perspective that can be applied to further link related studies especially those related to One Health and zoonoses and the assessment of similar capability-building programs.

Biosurveillance in Central Asia: Successes and Challenges of Tick-Borne Disease Research in Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan

Central Asia is a vast geographic region that includes five former Soviet Union republics: Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan. The region has a unique infectious disease burden, and a history that includes Silk Road trade routes and networks that were part of the anti-plague and biowarfare programs in the former Soviet Union. Post-Soviet Union biosurveillance research in this unique area of the world has met with several challenges, including lack of funding and resources to independently conduct hypothesis driven, peer-review quality research. Strides have been made, however, to increase scientific engagement and capability. Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan are examples of countries where biosurveillance research has been successfully conducted, particularly with respect to especially dangerous pathogens. In this review, we describe in detail the successes, challenges, and opportunities of conducting biosurveillance in Central Asia as exemplified by our recent research activities on ticks and tick-borne diseases in Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan.