3rd Asian Simuliidae Symposium 

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11- 12 March 2020

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In conjunction with the 56th Annual Scientific Conference of the Malaysian Society of Parasitology and Tropical Biomedicine (MSPTM), the Tropical Infectious Diseases Research and Education Centre (TIDREC), Universiti Malaya and MSPTM have co-organized the 3rd Asian Simuliidae Symposium. This meeting was successfully held on 11-12 March 2020 at Hotel Istana, Kuala Lumpur.

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More than 95% of the 2300 species of black flies (Simuliidae) in the world feed on vertebrate blood and, therefore, have the potential to damage economies, either directly through blood-feeding or through transmission of disease agents to humans, domesticated animals, and wildlife. Simuliid-borne problems of parasitism and disease are, however, not uniformly distributed throughout the world. To address this issue, we were pleased to have Prof. Emeritus Dr. Peter Adler from the Clemson University, USA, as the plenary speaker for this symposium. Additionally, the regional researchers have also presented blackfly studies from the perspectives of taxonomy, systematics, ecology, and genetics. Knowledge gaps which required attention were also discussed.

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A total of 80 participants from various universities and government agencies, including international delegates from USA, UK, Taiwan and Indonesia were participated in this meeting.

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