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Institute of Epidemiology, Disease Control and Research

department · verified (verified 2026-05-17)

Profile

Head
Prof Dr Tahmina Shirin
Role
Director
Annual budget
Staff
Established
1976
Legal basis
Established in 1976 as an autonomous research institute under the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, incorporating the former Malaria Institute of East Pakistan (which originated from the Central Malaria Institute of India before the 1947 partition). Operates under the Rules of Business 1996 (Schedule I) as a subordinate office of the Health Services Division.

Confirmed the sole 2026 Nipah case (Naogaon, January 2026; IHR notified 3 February 2026), bringing Bangladesh's cumulative total to 348 NiV cases and 250 deaths since 2001 (72% CFR); running dengue, Nipah, AMR, anthrax, and One Health EBS dashboards; providing PHEOC epidemiological support for the concurrent measles outbreak. Sentinel Nipah surveillance operational since 2006 across endemic districts.

Recent activity

Provenance & notes

Established 1976 per Wikipedia and IEDCR homepage, incorporating the former Malaria Institute of East Pakistan. Correct title is 'Institute' (not 'Directorate'); head title is 'Director' (not 'Director General'). IEDCR homepage (last updated 17 May 2026) confirms Prof Dr Tahmina Shirin, PhD as Director; Wikipedia records her appointment as 19 August 2020; no successor identified in any primary source as of verification date. Parent organisation is Health Services Division, confirmed by IEDCR homepage which lists HSD Secretary Md Kamruzzaman Chowdhury in the institutional header. Wikipedia lists 'Ministry of Health' as parent, but this is an imprecision -- operationally IEDCR reports to HSD under MoHFW. Nipah cumulative statistics: DON582 (September 2025) gives 347 cases at 71.7% CFR; DON594 (February 2026) gives 348 cases and 250 deaths at 72% CFR, reflecting the January 2026 Naogaon case. Sentinel NiV surveillance established 2006 per WHO DON582. 2025 NiV cases: 4 confirmed fatal (Pabna, Bhola, Faridpur, Naogaon; January-August 2025); three linked to raw date palm sap, fourth source under investigation; 305 contacts traced, all tested negative. 2026 NiV case: 1 confirmed fatal (Naogaon, Rajshahi Division; died 28 January 2026); 35 contacts all negative; IHR notification 3 February 2026. IEDCR not named in WHO DON-598 as a primary actor in the 2026 measles outbreak response; laboratory confirmation credited to unspecified national facilities; DGHS and NITAG are the named lead agencies for the outbreak. Staff count and budget not publicly disclosed in any available primary source. Annual budget line not separately published; IEDCR operations are funded under Health Services Division's development budget. Dengue Week-18 figure (2,613 cumulative cases, 4 deaths as of 7 May 2026) is from DGHS HEOC dashboard, which IEDCR co-supports; the specific IEDCR-attributed dengue case total for the surveillance window is not separately published.

Sources