Under the patronage of the president of the University of Basrah Prof Dr. Saad Shaheen Hammadi and under the supervision of the Dean of the College of Medicine Prof. Dr. Khalil Ismail Alhamdi, the Department of Microbiology held a scientific symposium entitled “Epidemic Flu and COVID-19: Double Risk in the Fall of 2020”, on Wednesday, October 21st, 2020. The symposium was attended by the teaching staff and postgraduate students of the college and other colleges of the University of Basrah. All attendees expressed their interaction with the valuable scientific information contained in the symposium. 
The symposium included two scientific lectures. The first lecture was given by Assistant Professor Dr. Firas Taha Mansour and it was entitled: “Genetic evolution of COVID-19 land influenza viruses and its impact on the continuation of the pandemic”. The second lecture was given by Assistant Professor Dr. Wijdan Nizar Ibrahim and it was entitled “COVID-19 and influenza: similarities and differences in pathogenecity, symptoms and complications, prevention and treatment”. 
This symposium was held to raise awareness about the genetic evolution of SARS-COV-2 and influenza viruses and focus on the role of this evolution in the continuation of the current pandemic.
The activity was covered also by the Iraqi Satellite Channel