Protecting the health of U.S. military forces in Romania: Endemic disease threat considerations

Abstract

In 2005 the United States and Romania signed a historic access agreement establishing the first U.S. military bases in the former Soviet bloc country of Romania. The bases will host joint exercises aimed at developing regional military cooperation with forces throughout the entire 92-country USEUCOM area of responsibility (AOR). These forward operating bases (FOBs) or "lily pads" will include the Smardan Training Range, Babadag Training Range,Mihail Kogalniceanu (MK) Air Base, and Cincu Training Range. They will be under the command of Joint Task Force East (JTF-East), headquartered at the MK Air Base. Here described are the naturally occurring pathogens of clinical significance that exist in the region, including those of known biowarfare/bioterrorism (BW/BT) potential. Notwithstanding the length of deployment for training, proactive clinical and environmental surveillance should be linked to the implementation of adequate Force Health Protection (FHP) measures to minimize the impact these medical threats may have on JTF-East operations.