One Health Pilot Project - Prevention and Control of Rabies in North Gondar Zone, Ethiopia

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), Rabies team under the Pox and Rabies Branch (PRB) intends to award a sole source contract to the University of Gondar (UoG) to enhance laboratory and epidemiologic surveillance and monitoring by establishing a central (target region, North Gondar) rabies laboratory at UoG for both human and animal specimen testing for the pilot One Health program. The Rabies and Infections of Global Health in the Tropics (RIGHT) team (consisting of rabies experts from CDC, Federal Ministry of Health of Ethiopia, and other Public Health agencies) has selected the North Gondar Zone in Ethiopia to be the project location (an area with one of the highest rabies cases in the country) for the implementation of the rabi es prevention and control program. The University of Gondar (UoG), is a sole entity situated in this remote rural area with the capacity and expertise required for the successful implementation of this project. Hosting the oldest public health collage within the country, UoG is the most trusted establishment in this area and all of Ethiopia in regards to health related research and development. The contractor will be responsible for identifying facilities for quarantine of suspect animals and diagnostic laboratories, building animal control officer workforce capacity (zonal), expanding zonal surveillance coverage, and linking animal-human rabies surveillance reporting. The statutory authority for this sole source acquisition is 10 U.S.C 2304(c)(1) in accordance with FAR 8.405-6(b) "Limiting Sources"- Only one source is capable of providing the supplies or services required at the level of quality required because the supplies or services are unique or highly specialized. The NAICS code for this procurement is 541380 - Tewsting Laboratories. The period of performance for this procurement is 6 months. As a result of this synopsis, no competitive solicitation will be posted on FedBizOpps. We will issue only one solicitation to the University of Gondar (UoG). However, all responsible sources that believe they can meet these requirements may submit their capabilities/qualifications statement to provide the services to LaShanda Washington via email at LNWashington@cdc.gov with the solicitation number 2015-Q-17334 referenced in the subject line NO LATER THAN 5 PM EST, July 7, 2015. A determination by the Government not to compete this proposed action will be based on responses to this notice and are solely within the discretion of the Contracting Officer. Information received will be considered solely for the purpose of determining whether to conduct a competitive procurement.