Celesta

Genomic Surveillance of viral Haemorrhagic Fevers and other Outbreak-prone viral Diseases in sub-Saharan Africa

Four sequencing laboratory staff from ISTH, Nigeria, with a BNITM trainer during an introductory training on phylogenetics analysis at CRV-LFHVG, Conakry, Guinea. © BNITM

Context

The COVID-19 pandemic and various other viral infectious disease outbreaks in recent years highlight the need for strong laboratory preparedness and capacities to ensure an effective national response to public health emergencies. The World Health Assembly has therefore made genomic surveillance a key priority because this technology offers a unique opportunity to identify, track, monitor and characterise viral pathogens in a timely manner, which results in improved public health decision-making. During the COVID-19 pandemic, efforts were made to establish SARS-CoV-2-specific sequencing capacities in sub-Saharan Africa. It is, however, crucial to expand such capacities to cover a broad range of viral pathogens so that these countries are well-prepared to deal with infectious disease threats. Collaborating with its long-term partners, the project aims to improve genomic surveillance capacities for viral haemorrhagic fevers (VHFs) and other outbreak-prone viral diseases. The project focuses on Nigeria and Guinea and works closely with local laboratory staff. It will not only reinforce the capacities of national surveillance laboratories, but also provide a global solution enabling these countries to prepare for and rapidly respond to future outbreaks.

Objective

Establishing sequencing capacity for life-threatening viral pathogens, where needed, to improve pathogen identification and outbreak preparedness and response.

In Cooperation with

  • Irrua Specialist Teaching Hospital (ISTH), Nigeria
  • Centre de Recherches en Virologie – Laboratoire des Fièvres Hémorragiques Virales de Guinée (LFHVG), Guinea
  • Université Gamal Abdel Nasser (UGANC), Guinea
  • Laboratoire des Fièvres Hémorragiques Virales de Gueckédou (LFHV Gueckédou), Guinea
  • Laboratoire des Fièvres Hémorragiques Virales, N’Zérékoré regional hospital (HRNZE), Guinea
  • Evolutionary and Computational Virology, Katholieke Universiteit Leuven (KU Leuven), Belgium
  • Ministries of health (Nigeria and Guinea)
  • World Health Organization (WHO), Switzerland
  • Global Outbreak Alert and Response Network (GOARN)

Thematic priorities

  • Laboratory diagnostics
  • One Health
  • Outbreak management
  • Strengthening of public health systems
  • Surveillance and reporting

Facts

Duration

01.01.2023 - 31.12.2025

Budget

ca. 2,300,000 EUR

Project Countries

  • Guinea
  • Nigeria

Implementing Institution

Bernhard Nocht Institute for Tropical Medicine

Contact

Sophie Duraffour
Bernhard Nocht Institute for Tropical Medicine (BNITM)
Bernhard-Nocht-Straße 74, 20359 Hamburg, Germany

duraffour@bnitm.de

Download Fact Sheet

Activities

  • Training and competence development

    Training of laboratory staff to perform diagnostics, next-generation sequencing, informatics analysis, molecular epidemiology and research.

  • Procurement of goods and infrastructure development

    Setting up fixed and mobile genomic surveillance laboratories.

  • Capacity development

    Establishing sequencing capacity in three laboratories; supporting the implementation of bioinformatics processing and analysis of sequencing data (hardware and software); introducing quality management systems to ensure delivery of quality genomic sequencing data.

News from this project

West Africa expands its sequencing capacity

In 2023, eight scientific staff from Guinea and Nigeria have been trained on a new sequencing me...