Functional Simulation Exercise on Functionality of National Public Health Emergency Operations Centers in the African Region: Review of Strengths and Gaps.

National public health emergency operations centers (PHEOCs) serve as hubs for coordinating information and resources for effective emergency management. In the a simulation exercise is 1 of 4 components that can be used to test the functionality of a country's emergency response capabilities in a simulated situation. To test the functionality of PHEOCs in World Health Organization African Region member states, a regional functional exercise simulating an Ebola virus disease outbreak was conducted.

Longitudinal wastewater-based surveillance of SARS-CoV-2 during 2023 in Ethiopia.

Introduction: Although wastewater-based epidemiology (WBE) successfully functioned as a tool for monitoring the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic globally, relatively little is known about its utility in low-income countries. This study aimed to quantify severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) RNA in wastewater, estimate the number of infected individuals in the catchment areas, and correlate the results with the clinically reported COVID-19 cases in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.

Methods: A total of 323 influent and 33 effluent wastewater samples were collected from three Wastewater Treatment Plants (WWTPs) using a 24-h composite Moore swab sampling method from February to November 2023.

The 2024 Public Health Emergency of International Concern: A Global Failure to Control Mpox.

On August 14, 2024, following a regional declaration by the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention, the World Health Organization declared mpox a Public Health Emergency of International Concern, marking the second such declaration in two years. A series of outbreaks involving the more virulent clade I virus (compared to clade II, which caused a global outbreak in 2022), has now spread in 13 African countries, exposing the inadequacies of the public health infrastructure in these settings. There was significant investment during the 2022 global outbreak, but these efforts failed to address vaccine access and treatment in the Global South.

Molecular Epidemiology and AMR Perspective of Diarrhoeagenic Escherichia coli in Africa: A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis.

Introduction: Diarrhoeagenic Escherichia coli (DEC) persistently challenges public health in Africa, contributing substantially to the diarrhoeal disease burden. This systematic review and meta-analysis illuminate the distribution and antimicrobial resistance (AMR) patterns of DEC pathotypes across the continent.

Methods: The review selectively focused on pathotype-specific studies reporting prevalence and/or AMR of human-derived DEC pathotypes from African nations, excluding data from extra-intestinal, animal, and environmental sources and studies focused on drug and mechanism experiments.

Local patterns of spread of influenza A H3N2 virus in coastal Kenya over a 1-year period revealed through virus sequence data.

The patterns of spread of influenza A viruses in local populations in tropical and sub-tropical regions are unclear due to sparsity of representative spatiotemporal sequence data. We sequenced and analyzed 58 influenza A(H3N2) virus genomes sampled between December 2015 and December 2016 from nine health facilities within the Kilifi Health and Demographic Surveillance System (KHDSS), a predominantly rural region, covering approximately 891 km along the Kenyan coastline. The genomes were compared with 1571 contemporaneous global sequences from 75 countries.

Rates of Viral Non-Suppression and Acquired HIV-1 Drug Resistance Emergence among Children during the Sociopolitical Crisis in the Northwest Region of Cameroon: A Call for Improved Monitoring Strategies.

Background: Virological failure (VF) among children remains concerning, with high risks of HIV drug resistance (HIVDR) emergence and increased disease progression. Therefore, monitoring of viral non-suppression and emerging HIVDR is crucial, especially in the frame of sociopolitical unrest.

Objective: The study sought to determine the prevalence of VF and evaluate the acquired HIVDR and viral genetic diversity among children in the Northwest region of Cameroon during the ongoing sociopolitical crisis.

Africa aims to avert an mpox pandemic.

Last month, when the world's most populus country, India, reported its first case of the new, highly transmissible clade Ib mpox variant, the challenge of containing the virus was once again evident. Only a few weeks before that in August, the World Health Organization (WHO) and the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC) declared mpox a public health emergency in response to its spread in Africa. Since then, cases of clade Ib mpox have been reported in Sweden, Thailand, and Pakistan.