A conference bringing together some of the world’s top disease specialists has been cancelled – due to fears over the spread of Coronavirus.
Over 1,400 delegates were due to attend the Microbiology Society’s annual meeting in Edinburgh between March 30 and April 3 to celebrate the organisation’s 75th anniversary.
However, an email sent to prospective attendees confirmed the conference had been postponed amid concerns of the SARS-CoV-2 bug – the cause of the Covid-19 strain.
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The event, hosted at the Edinburgh International Conference Centre (EICC), was due to feature a ‘Fleming Showcase,’ allowing research from emerging talent in the microbiology field to be presented in front of a panel of experts.
A short statement posted on the society’s website reads: “Due to the continued spread of SARS-CoV-2, the cause of COVID-19, the Council of the Microbiology Society, as Trustees of the Society, have taken the difficult decision to cancel this year’s Annual Conference, due to take place from 30 March until 3 April 2020 in Edinburgh, UK. We will also postpone our Candida and Candidiasis Focused Meeting, due to take place from 19-23 April in Montreal, Canada.”
The society was founded by Sir Alexander Fleming in 1945, shortly after he won the Nobel Prize for Medicine alongside Ernst Chain and Howard Florey for their discovery of Penicillin.
According to the society’s website, the aim of the meeting was to “make an impact on urgent problems like new and emerging diseases".
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Five cases of Covid-19 have been confirmed in the Lothians so far, with some patients being treated at the capital’s Western General Hospital.
A total of 23 outbreaks of the virus have been recorded in Scotland, according to figures released on Monday.
A further update is due at 2pm on Tuesday.
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