Dear colleagues

On behalf of the organizers, we are honoured to announce and welcome all of you to the XXIX World Congress on Echinococcosis, which will be held in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan from August 28-30, 2023. The Congress is organized under the sponsorship of the World Association of Echinococcosis, the I.K. Akhunbaev Kyrgyz State Medical Academy, Zurich University, International Higher School of Medicine Department, of Disease Prevention and State Sanitary and Epidemiological Surveillance and the Kyrgyz Research Institute of Veterinary Science named after A.Duisheev.

This will be the first time the World Congress on Echinococcosis has been held in the Russian speaking part of the world. This vast region stretches from Eastern Europe to the Pacific Ocean and from the borders of Iran, across the mountains, deserts, and steppes of the Central Asia, encompassing the vast territory of taiga and forests of Siberia to the Arctic Ocean. Consequently, there are a number of unique problems in this region which include emergence or re-emergence of both alveolar and cystic echinococcosis. In some districts, the incidences of these diseases in humans are amongst the highest in the world. We anticipate that the XXIX World Congress on Echinococcosis will be a leading scientific event that will bring experts and professionals in the field from all over the World to this region. This meeting will create the environment to exchange experiences, research, outstanding findings, collaboration, and enhance the relationships among all participants. In particular, we anticipate a cross-fertilization of ideas between scientists and experts from the Commonwealth of Independent States of the former USSR and those from the international echinococcosis community.

The Congress is addressed to physicians, veterinarians, biologists, parasitologists, pharmacologists, infectious diseases specialists, surgeons, epidemiologists, public health practitioners, laboratory specialists, economists, and all who are involved and/or interested in Echinococcosis. The Congress will be carried out in scientific sessions, symposium, plenary session, oral presentations, and a poster session. The official language of the Congress is English, but there will be simultaneous translation into Russian.

We thank all of you in advance for your participation and commitment to control these zoonotic parasites. Your presence at this World Congress will give prestige to this outstanding scientific event.

Welcome to Kyrgyzstan! We hope you enjoy your stay in this beautiful and unique country.