With the support of GHPP-CoronaGlobal program, two SARS-CoV-2 field sequencing laboratories using the MinION technologies (Oxford Nanopore Technologies) have been successfully implemented in two of our partner laboratories in Guinea and Nigeria. Following several trainings performed at the Laboratoire des Fièvres Hemorragiques Virales en Guinée (CRV-LFHVG) in Guinea in 2021…
To continue our capacity building program in Guinea, refresher trainings were organized in the three laboratories for viral hemorrhagic fevers (VHFs) in Conakry (CRV-LFHVG*), Gueckédou (LFHV-GKD*) and N’Zérékoré (LFHV-HRNZE*) to reinforce the laboratory preparedness and to contribute actively to the surveillance system of the country. Enhancement of reliable diagnostics in…
Recently, in July this year, the results of the clinical study PAIRR have been published. This publication resulted from the fruitful collaboration between ISTH and BNITM, which materialized in capacity building activities and the conduct of this observational clinical study. Following the above-mentioned clinical study, a clinical trial comparing…
The European Mobile lab (EMLab), managed by the Bernhard Nocht Institute for Tropical Medicine (BNITM), is specialized in field diagnostics of high consequence pathogens such as Ebola and Lassa viruses. The EMLab is a partner of the World Health Organization and the Global Outbreak Alert and Response Network (GOARN), and…
Since 2019, the Irrua Specialist Teaching Hospital (ISTH) in Irrua, Edo State, Nigeria, gained knowledge in the field of Lassa virus sequencing as part of this GHPP program but was yet new to the field of SARS-CoV-2 sequencing. To strengthen this capacity, we decided to build upon…
Following the request of the Beninese Ministry of Health, Bernhard Nocht Institute for Tropical Medicine (BNITM) staff deployed to Benin on 6 – 12 June 2022 to assist with the establishment of Mpox diagnostics at the national laboratory for viral hemorrhagic fevers in Cotonou (LFH). In addition…
To support the Irrua Specialist Teaching Hospital (ISTH) with the establishment of Mpox virus diagnostics, and to increase the diagnostic capacities of the Institute for Lassa Fever Research and Control (ILFRC), a team from Bernhard Nocht Institute for Tropical Medicine (BNITM) trained ILFRC staff…
The CLEAR project intends to throw light into differential diagnosis of diseases like COVID-19 and other respiratory pathogens that might be misdiagnosed during the COVID-19 Pandemic. In the last weeks, the project coordinators conducted trainings and held meetings with the different teams within CLEAR to be able to start screening…
In July 2021, 12 laboratory experts received a two-week theoretical and practical introduction to nanopore sequencing. Participants of the training were laboratory experts from the National Reference Laboratory for COVID-19 Laboratório Nacional de Referência da Tuberculose (LNR-TB), part of the Ministry of Health, and experts from the National Laboratory for…