Laboratory support during and after the Ebola virus endgame: towards a sustained laboratory infrastructure

EUROSURVEILLANCE by I. Goodfellow, C. Reusken, and M. Koopmans  

  March 26, 2015                                                              

The Ebola virus epidemic in West Africa is on the brink of entering a second phase in which the (inter)national efforts to slow down virus transmission will be engaged to end the epidemic. The response community must consider the longevity of their current laboratory support, as it is essential that diagnostic capacity in the affected countries be supported beyond the end of the epidemic.

The emergency laboratory response should be used to support building structural diagnostic and outbreak surveillance capacity.

The current epidemic and previous serological surveys [16] indicate that EBOV and other highly virulent pathogens are circulating in West Africa and will continue to do so beyond the end of the current epidemic. The reality is that EVD is likely to remain a problem in West Africa and this will not be the last epidemic we see in this area. The establishment of an integrated network of support laboratories would strengthen epidemic preparedness and response capabilities for the inevitable introductions of highly pathogenic zoonotic pathogens in the local human population.

Read complete report.

http://www.eurosurveillance.org/ViewArticle.aspx?ArticleId=21074