Germany

Federal Ministry of Defence
The Federal Ministry of Defence is responsible for the defence policy and activities in Germany. Through the Bundeswehr Medical Service, the Defence Ministry is equipped to preserve detect biological agents and restore the health of soldiers who are in danger of or have experienced exposure to biological agents.


Specialized Institutes/Centers:

Bernhard Nocht Institute
The Institute integrates high-technology laboratory work on the biology of pathogens, their reservoirs and vectors with host genetics and immunology, clinical trials, epidemiology and community-based intervention. Present studies focus on malaria, haemorrhagic fevers and tissue worm infections. For work on highly contagious pathogens such as Lassa and Ebola viruses, the Institute is equipped with high-security laboratories of biosafety level 4.

Bundeswehr Institute of Microbiology
As a scientific competence of the Bundeswehr, the Institute advises the leadership on all aspects of the medical-B protection (protection from disease = polluters to biological warfare agents) and ensures the immediate action in this area. In addition to serving as a medical institute, it also participates in biological defense training studies and applied research on epidemiology, pathogenesis, diagnosis, prevention and treatment of biological warfare agents and comparable biological substances caused by (B-) by health problems.

Robert Koch Institute
The Robert Koch Institute (RKI) is the central federal institution responsible for disease control and prevention and is therefore the central federal reference institution for both applied and response-orientated research as well as for the Public Health Sector. It is also charged with tasks in the identification and prevention of attacks using biological agents.