Africa has long been a hotspot for emerging and re-emerging viral infections such as Ebola, Mpox, Lassa fever, HIV, and arboviruses. Despite the continent's critical role in virology, African virologists have historically lacked a dedicated platform for collaboration and influence in global health policies. The African Virologists Network (AVN) was established in 2019 to address these gaps, fostering research collaboration, knowledge exchange, and capacity building. This article details the history of AVN, its initiatives, and its impact, including the African Virology Congress (AVC), the AVN webinar series, and its advocacy for enhanced virological research and policy engagement in Africa. The AVN's achievements underscore its role in strengthening Africa's response to viral diseases and ensuring African scientists play a leading role in global virology.
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Africa has long been a hotspot for emerging and re-emerging viral infections such as Ebola, Mpox, Lassa fever, HIV, and arboviruses. Despite the continent's critical role in virology, African virologists have historically lacked a dedicated platform for collaboration and influence in global health policies. The African Virologists Network (AVN) was established in 2019 to address these gaps, fostering research collaboration, knowledge exchange, and capacity building.
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In sub-Saharan Africa cassava growing areas, two members of the Bemisia tabaci species complex termed sub-Saharan Africa 1 (SSA1) and SSA2 have been reported as the prevalent whiteflies associated with the spread of viruses that cause cassava mosaic disease (CMD) and cassava brown streak disease (CBSD) pandemics. At the peak of CMD pandemic in the late 1990s, SSA2 was the prevalent whitefly, although its numbers have diminished over the last two decades with the resurgence of SSA1 whiteflies. Three SSA1 subgroups (SG1 to SG3) are the predominant whiteflies in East Africa and vary in distribution and biological properties.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFDesigning and Piloting a Specimen Transport System in Burkina Faso.
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Emilie Dama, PhD, is Senior Laboratory Advisor; Rebecca Greco Koné, MPH, is Country Director, Burkina Faso; and Irene Ngendakumana, MD, is Technical Advisor, Eagle Global Services, a CDC contractor; all with the Division of Global Health Protection, Country Office Burkina Faso, Center for Global Health, US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso. Abdoulaye Nikièma, PharmD, MSc, is Senior Laboratory Specialist and Global Health Security Program Manager for Burkina, African Society for Laboratory Medicine, Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso. Kameko Nichols is a Transport and Logistics Consultant, The Nichols Group LLC, Washington, DC. Brice Wilfried Bicaba, MD, MSc, is an Epidemiologist and Director; Souleymane Porgho, MSc, is an Epidemiologist and Data Manager; and Isaïe Medah, MD, is Director; all at Direction de la Protection de la Santé de la Population, Ministère de la Santé, Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso. Zékiba Tarnagda, DVM, PhD, is Head of Influenza, and Assana Cissé, MSc, is a Bacteriologist and Virologist, Influenza; both at the National Reference Laboratory, Institut de Recherche en Sciences de la Santé, Bobo-Dioulasso, Burkina Faso. Aimé Adjami, PhD, is a Biologist and Executive Director, and Flavien Ake, PhD, is Director; both at DAVYCAS International, Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso. Sara A. Mirza, PhD, is an Epidemiologist, US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Division of Bacterial Diseases, National Center for Immunizations and Respiratory Diseases, Atlanta, GA. The findings and conclusions in this report are those of the authors and do not necessarily represent the official position of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
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