History of Plague Research Center of Pasteur Institute of Iran (1952-2016)

Following outbreaks of plague in the West of Iran, Pasteur Institute of Iran (PII) established a research center for emerging and reemerging infectious diseases in Akanlu, a village of Hamadan, in 1952, and controlled this deadly disease by the support of Dr. Marcel Balrazard, the director of PII. Furthermore, the research team of PII studied Tularemia, relapsing fever and some other important infectious diseases based in this center. The activities of this center stopped for years. In 2010, this historical and public health center was renovated following signing a memorandum of understanding between PII and the Center for Communicable Disease Control, Ministry of Health. Right now, this center focuses on plague, tularemia and Q fever. It does also study within the field of monitoring of other emerging and reemerging diseases, including Borreliosis and Brucellosis. This article reviews the important activities of this center during its 65-year history.