Africa: Scaling-Up Antimicrobial Resistance Genomic Surveillance in Africa

Nigeria Health Watch
Globally, an estimated 4.95 million deaths were associated with drug-resistant infections (directly and indirectly), with 1.27 million of these deaths directly attributable to drug resistance.
21 June 2024
Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (Addis Ababa)
press release

Accra, Ghana — The Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention's Pathogen Genomics Initiative (Africa-PGI) uses short-term intensive courses to transform disease surveillance.

On 18 June 2024, Africa PGI and the Antimicrobial Resistance (AMR) program started conducting a two-week hands-on training on genomics and bioinformatics of K. pneumoniae and E. coli--Klebsiella pneumoniae - a significant cause of neonatal sepsis among other AMR pathogens. The World Health Organisation (WHO) recently announced the spread and emergence of hypervirulent Klebsiella pneumoniae (hvKP) in Asia and Europe. In Africa, the extent of this problem is not yet known.

Seventeen participants from Cameroon, Chad, DRC, Ethiopia, Malawi, Morocco, Mozambique, Nigeria, Uganda, Zambia, and Zimbabwe are training at the Noguchi Memorial Institute for Medical Research (NMIMR) in Accra, Ghana. This training aimed to strengthen Next Generation Sequencing (NGS) capacity to examine the potential circulation of hvKP.

The WHO says AMR directly causes more than 1.27 million deaths and contributes to 4.95 million deaths, making it a major global threat to public health and development.

AMR surveillance is an essential tool for tracking the emergence and spread of resistant strains of bacteria and informing efforts to control their spread. One of Africa CDC's efforts to strengthen AMR surveillance in Africa is building capacities for African Union member states by providing technical assistance to support developing and implementing surveillance systems across the continent and leveraging existing resources to share experiences. Given the high levels of antibiotic resistance and limited infection prevention measures in many African countries, there is a pressing need to scale up AMR genomic surveillance in Africa.

"Strengthening laboratory diagnostics, microbiology, and genomic surveillance capacity for AMR across Africa is critical to detect and elucidate the burden of AMR in Africa. Such data is urgently needed to respond to the silent pandemic," said Dr Yenew Kebede, head of the Laboratory Systems Division at Africa CDC.

"The hands-on training came at the right time to better understand circulating K. pneumoniae in neonatal sepsis and the potential spread of hypervirulent strain on the continent," added Professor Dorothy Yeboah-Manu, director of NMIMR.

Dr Sofonias Tessema, Program Lead for Pathogen Genomics at the Africa CDC, said Africa PGI continues to expand genomic use cases in line with national, regional, and global priorities to leverage the existing capacity effectively. "These trainings aim to address the skill barriers to leapfrog AMR surveillance in Africa," he said.

Africa CDC recognizes AMR as a significant public health threat in Africa. Currently, there is limited epidemiological, laboratory, and genomic data to inform response, which makes it critical to equip Member States to ensure timely detection and response to AMR. The project is supported by grants from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and the European Union EU4Health Program implemented by the African Society for Laboratory Medicine and the Africa Public Health Foundation.

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About Africa Pathogen Genomics Initiative (Africa-PGI)

Africa PGI is a 4-year collaboration between the Africa CDC Institute of Genomics, the US CDC, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, software giant Microsoft, genomics sequencing technology company Illumina, and UK-based biotechnology company Oxford Nanopore Technologies. The initiative aims to integrate pathogen genomics and bioinformatics into public health surveillance, outbreak investigations, and improved disease control and prevention in Africa. Africa PGI started running its programs in 2021. The Africa PGI is also supported by the Master Card Foundation Saving Lives and Livelihoods (SLL) and the European Union EU4Health program in collaboration with the Health Emergency Preparedness and Response (HERA) implemented by the European Health and Digital Executive Agency.

About NMIMR

The Noguchi Memorial Institute for Medical Research (NMIMR), set up in 1979 as a semi-autonomous institute of the University of Ghana, is Ghana's leading biomedical research facility. Learn more at: https://www.noguchi.ug.edu.gh/

Read the original article on Africa CDC.

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