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UFS co-hosts first African conference on Crimean-Congo haemorrhagic fever virus

23 May 2023 | Story Prof Felicity Burt | Photo Supplied

Prof Felicity Burt and Prof Ali Mirazimi — Prof Felicity Burt of the UFS and Prof Ali Mirazimi of Sweden’s Karolinska Institutet have collaborated for many years on the Crimean-Congo haemorrhagic fever virus, and conceived the idea of hosting the first CCHFV Africa Conference, which allowed participants from low-resource countries in Africa to attend.

The University of the Free State (UFS), in partnership with Sweden’s Karolinska Institutet, recently hosted the first CCHFV Africa Conference, at which experts from 16 countries – including 12 African countries – discussed Crimean-Congo haemorrhagic fever virus (CCHFV).

The conference was held in early May in Cape Town and included attendees from Benin, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Central African Republic, France, Gabon, Kenya, Mozambique, Senegal, South Africa, Sweden, Tanzania, Tunisia, Turkey, Uganda, and the United States.

Keynote lectures were presented by experts in the field from South Africa, Sweden, the USA, and Turkey. Representatives of the USA’s Defence Threat Reduction Agency (DTRA) and the European Research Infrastructure on Highly Pathogenic Agents (ERINHA) also attended the meeting.

Prof Felicity Burt, an expert in arbovirology from the UFS’s Division of Virology in the Faculty of Health Sciences and the National Health Laboratory Service (NHLS), organised the conference in partnership with Prof Ali Mirazimi of the Karolinska Institutet, the Public Health Agency of Sweden, and the National Veterinary Institute in Sweden. Profs Burt and Mirazimi have collaborated for many years on the CCHF virus and conceived the idea to host a conference which would allow participants from low-resource countries in Africa to attend.

First of its kind

Prof Burt said the CCHFV Africa 2023 Conference was the first of its kind, and aimed to create a platform for African researchers to showcase their research while establishing contact and collaboration with colleagues to further preparedness for CCHFV outbreaks in Africa.

“We allowed for a total of 60 participants and were delighted with the enthusiastic response,” Prof Burt said. “We had a full house. The meeting would not have been possible without the support of the DTRA, who partnered with the UFS in supporting CCHF research and bio-surveillance efforts in South Africa, the region, and the African continent.”

Crimean-Congo haemorrhagic fever virus is a tick-borne zoonosis (disease which can be transmitted from animal to human) found in Africa, Asia, eastern and southern Europe, the Balkans, and the Middle East. The virus is listed as one of the priority pathogens for research and vaccine development by the World Health Organization (WHO) due to significant public health implications and the absence of effective treatment.

“The distribution of CCHFV correlates with that of the primary vector of the virus, ticks belonging to the genus Hyalomma,” Prof Burt added. “The distribution of these ticks has, in recent years, expanded to regions where conditions are favourable for the species to establish endemnicity. Hence there is growing concern that this virus has the potential to emerge and spread to new geographic regions.”

Cases detected annually in South Africa

Humans become infected with CCHFV via tick bites or from contact with infected blood or other livestock or human tissue. Human infection is usually characterised by febrile (high-fever) illness, which can progress to a haemorrhagic state with a fatal outcome.

Cases of CCHFV are detected annually in South Africa, with a fatality rate of approximately 24%. Although the number of cases that occur in South Africa is low, CCHFV infections are a significant public health concern due to the lack of specific treatment and risk to healthcare workers. Currently there is limited data available regarding the distribution and occurrence of cases in many other countries in Africa where the vector is known to occur.

Oral presentations from conference participants provided substantial evidence of the virus circulating in multiple countries, with potential to cause human infections.

“The presence of this virus emphasises the urgent need to build diagnostic and surveillance capacity for CCHFV and other arboviral disease with potential to cause outbreaks throughout Africa,” Prof Burt said.

News Archive

Inauguration of Prof Francis Petersen as 14th Vice-Chancellor and Rector of the UFS

2017-05-23

Dr Khotso Mokhele, Chancellor of the UFS, robes Prof Francis Petersen as Vice-Chancellor and Rector of the UFS.
Photo: Charl Devenish

“At the UFS, we want to produce graduates for the world, and we need to ensure that we use our knowledge to uplift society”
— Prof Francis Petersen, 14th Vice-Chancellor and Rector of the University of the Free State (UFS)

On Friday 19 May 2017, the University of the Free State (UFS) celebrated the inauguration of its 14th Vice-Chancellor and Rector, Prof Francis Petersen. The formal inauguration was held in the Odeion Theatre on the Bloemfontein Campus. The ceremony was preceded by a week-long welcoming programme on the three UFS campuses.

The guest list included representatives from local and provincial government, vice-chancellors and rectors from across South Africa, and senior members of the university’s executive management.

During the inaugural address, Prof Petersen paid tribute to his predecessors for the role they played in making the university what it is today. This included former rectors and vice-chancellors who attended the ceremony, such as Prof Francois Retief and Prof Frederick Fourie, and Prof Stef Coetzee and Prof Jonathan Jansen who were unable to attend.

Prof Petersen characterised 2015 and 2016 as watershed years for the South African higher-education system. “The Rhodes Must Fall, and subsequent Fees Must Fall student and staff protests challenged us, and re-energised a critical engagement around the purpose of the university in an equal society, both as a site of complicity and as a potential agent for social change,” said Prof Petersen.

He committed himself to developing the UFS into an institution that will have an even greater impact than before.

“This institution I am striving to establish will be one that responds positively to inclusivity, diversity, and transformation, and which can incorporate these values into our curriculum, scholarship, and research in a productive way,” said Prof Petersen.

Prof Petersen emphasised the importance of the three-campus model. “The University of the Free State is ONE university with three campuses: the Bloemfontein Campus, our South Campus, and the Qwaqwa Campus. I am committed to align the activities of the three campuses, and to integrate our activities to a greater extent.

“We must work together to infuse each campus with the values we have identified as essential if we are to make our mark as a united University of the Free State: academic excellence, diversity and inclusivity, and innovation.”

The Chancellor, Dr Khotso Mokhele, had the honour of handing over the gown to Prof Petersen. Prof Lis Lange, Vice-Rector: Academic, explained the relationship between the university and the Basotho people, and how this relationship is honoured through the official procession gowns of the UFS. The Basotho blanket is worn by kings, and the university therefore hopes that the symbolism of the gown would be a source of inspiration to Prof Petersen.

The event was concluded by congratulatory messages from former colleagues and the President of the Student Representative Council on the Bloemfontein Campus, SK Luwaca. The event was elegant and graceful – the inaugural address was thought-provoking and inspiring.

Official Inauguration Ceremony:

19 May 2017
Bloemfontein Campus

Description: Official Inauguration photo small Tags: Official Inauguration photo small

"I challenge you to dream big and do big." - Prof Petersen

Photo Caption: Dr Khotso Mokhele, Chancellor of the UFS, robes Prof Francis Petersen as Vice-Chancellor and Rector of the UFS.
Photo: Johan Roux

Short biography of Prof Francis Petersen
Inaugural address: 19 May 2017
Transcription of the ceremony
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Video

Welcoming Ceremonies:

The week of 11-19 May 2017 was one of the highlights in this year’s calendar for staff and students of the University of the Free State (UFS), with various ceremonies taking place to welcome Prof Francis Petersen – who assumed his duties on 1 April 2017 – as the 14th Vice-Chancellor and Rector. The festivities culminated in the official inauguration ceremony at the Bloemfontein Campus on 19 May 2017.

The Qwaqwa Campus welcoming ceremony took place on Thursday 11 May 2017, attracting a wide spectrum of community leaders from the area. Prof Petersen was welcomed by representatives from the two trade unions, National Education Health and Allied Workers Union (Nehawu) and UVPERSU, as well as representatives from the Student Representative Council (SRC), the Thabo Mofutsanyana Education District, and the House of Traditional Leaders. Paramount Queen Mopeli of the Bakoena Royal House bestowed a special honour upon Prof Petersen by clothing him in a traditional Basotho blanket and hat. She said, "From our heart of hearts, welcome, Prof Francis ..., and all Godspeed during your tenure."

The South Campus in Bloemfontein hosted a welcoming ceremony for the new Vice-Chancellor and Rector on 18 May 2017. The ceremony included a number of vocal performances and messages from various stakeholder groups. The same afternoon, the Institute for Reconciliation and Social Justice (IRSJ) also facilitated a panel discussion, titled Diversity, inclusivity, and social justice and the renewed call for decolonisation, in the Albert Wessels Auditorium (AWO) on the Bloemfontein Campus.

The welcoming ceremonies culminated in an event in the Callie Human Centre on Friday 19 May 2017 at the Bloemfontein Campus, with a number of performances by musicians associated with the UFS, marimbas, drum majorettes from Jim Fouche Secondary School, the Grey College Gumboots, and school choirs from Eunice Secondary School, Brebner Primary School, and Willem Postma Primary School. Representatives from key stakeholders such as Nehawu, UVPERSU, the Campus Ministries Forum, SRC, Alumni, Convocation, and the UFS Council had the opportunity to convey their messages of welcome to Prof Petersen.

The formal inauguration ceremony took place in the Odeion Theatre on the Bloemfontein Campus the same day.

Qwaqwa Campus ceremony:

11 May 2017
Qwaqwa Campus

"Qwaqwa Campus is the perfect laboratory for sustainable sciences.” – Prof Petersen

Photo caption: Paramount Queen Mopeli of the Bakoena Royal House with Prof Petersen and his wife, Cheslyn.
Photo: Mamosa Makaya

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Video

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Transcription of the ceremony

South Campus ceremony:

18 May 2017
South Campus

"South Campus: you aspire excellence, adding to diversity and you are innovative in what you do." - Prof Petersen

Photo caption: Flag bearers and drummers walking to the Madiba Arena.
Photo: Hannes Pieterse

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Transcription of the ceremony

Bloemfontein Campus panel discussion:

Panel discussion: Diversity, inclusivity and social justice and the renewed call for decolonisation
18 May 2017
Bloemfontein Campus

Description: Panel discussion 18 May 2017 Tags: Panel discussion 18 May 2017

"The UFS should be a place of belonging for everyone." - Prof Petersen

Photo caption: from left: SK Luwaca (SRC President, Bloemfontein Campus), Prof Elelwani Ramugondo (UCT), Prof Francis Petersen (UFS), Prof Melissa Steyn (WITS), Prof Andre Keet (UFS)
Photo: Lelanie de Wet

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Transcription of panel discussion

Bloemfontein Campus ceremony:
19 May 2017
Bloemfontein Campus

Description: Bloem welcoming ceremony on 19 May 2017 Tags: Bloem welcoming ceremony on 19 May 2017

"I can just say, Wow! I've experienced a lot during the welcoming functions on all three campuses." - Prof Petersen

Photo caption: Prof Francis Petersen, Vice-Chancellor and Rector of the UFS
Photo: Rulanzen Martin

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Transcription of the ceremony

Photo gallery of Inauguration and Welcoming Ceremonies

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