Strengthening Yellow Fever Diagnostic Capacity in Nigeria
Yellow fever (YF) is a viral haemorrhagic fever transmitted by infected Aedes mosquitoes. It is on the IDSR list of priority diseases for immediate reporting in Nigeria. Given the zoonotic nature of YF, NCDC has continued to adopt a ‘One Health’ approach to ensure Nigerians are protected against this disease. This is through collaboration with the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, Ministry of Environment, World Health Organization (WHO) and other relevant development partners.
Although YF is a vaccine preventable disease, cases are still detected in Nigeria all year round. One of the priority areas for Nigeria’s YF response is strengthening diagnostic capacity for timely detection and prompt response to YF outbreaks. In the last five years, Nigeria has established a network of YF laboratories with six (6) laboratories across all six geopolitical zones in Nigeria. Alongside this, some of these laboratories are part of the Global Yellow Fever, Measles and Rubella Laboratory Network.
Annually, WHO conducts laboratory accreditation for quality assurance and ensures operations are in line with the recommended global best practices. This year, annual laboratory accreditation exercises are underway for Nigerian laboratories in the Global Yellow Fever, Measles and Rubella Laboratory Network. In Nigeria, a second laboratory within the National YF Network, Yusuf Dantsoho Memorial Hospital (YDMH), Kaduna has been fully accredited by WHO for yellow fever diagnosis in 2021. The NCDC is working closely with other laboratories to attain accreditation. The NCDC Central Public Health Laboratory (CPHL), Lagos also attained this full accreditation for the year.
With the need for improved yellow fever diagnostic capacity in Nigeria, NCDC in collaboration with WHO conducted an in-country training for focal persons within the network of YF laboratories from 8th - 12th March 2020. The objectives of the training were to:
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Train laboratory staff involved in YF serological testing using the MAC-ELISA protocol
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Train laboratory staff in the network on basic biosafety principles and practices
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Re-acquaint the laboratories with data management processes for the network
The training was conducted in line with the global network IgM Antibody Capture Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay (MAC-ELISA) protocol. The expected outcomes are a highly skilled laboratory workforce, improved data management and an adequately prepared system to fulfil the major criteria for WHO accreditation.
The NCDC remains committed to working with states, WHO and other relevant stakeholders in strengthening YF diagnostic capacity for the timely detection of case(s), prompt response and ultimately outbreak control, in line with the EYE strategy objectives.
Summary of Incidents Notes
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Information for this disease was retrieved from the Technical Working Group and Situation Reports
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Case Fatality Rate (CFR) for this disease is reported for confirmed cases only
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Information for this disease was retrieved from IDSR 002 data
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CFR for this disease is reported for total cases i.e. suspected + confirmed
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Information for sentinel influenza was retrieved from the laboratory