Success Stories

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CDC supported integrated serological surveillance using the multiplex bead assay (MBA) in over one dozen countries. Traditional immunoassays measure the presence or absence of only one disease pathogen per reaction while multiplex immunoassays measure dozens of different disease pathogens in a single reaction. This activity strengthens surveillance systems by enhancing cross-sector work to maximize investments in single-disease surveys.

In Guatemala, MBA data from a soil-transmitted parasitic worm survey provided data on vaccine coverage for measles and rubella while also providing prevalence data for yaws, a chronic skin infection, which will be used to support Guatemala’s dossier for elimination of yaws.

In the KEMRI lab in Kenya, CDC provided reagents and re-training for a lymphatic filariasis triple-drug therapy survey that will test for other neglected and vaccine-preventable diseases. This continues a 10-year partnership on multi-disease surveillance between KEMRI and CDC.

Studies conducted in Mozambique and being planned in Sierra Leone will use the Country-wide mortality surveillance for Action (COMSA) platform to conduct integrated sero-surveillance, which will facilitate surveillance for neglected vector-borne diseases.

In Nigeria, GHS funds helped support a multi-year collaboration between the Nigeria National Reference Laboratory (NRL) and CDC headquarters. The NRL leveraged previous MBA-based multi-disease surveillance for COVID serosurveys from a variety of data streams to strengthen their COVID surveillance.

From November 2022 to December 2023, the State Department’s Bureau of International Security and Nonproliferation, Office of Cooperative Threat Reduction, in partnership with Health Security Partners, engaged with over 80 Indian government officials, researchers, and IT personnel from institutions in India with Biosafety Level (BSL)-3 high containment laboratories (HCLs) to strengthen their biorisk management and cybersecurity capabilities in India.

Engagements focused on discussing the potential security risks posed to bioscience facilities and the importance of personnel reliability, biosecurity, and cybersecurity to mitigate illicit access to sensitive research, data, and pathogens housed in HCLs. This work helps secure HCLs in India, limiting the potential for theft of high consequence pathogens, accidental outbreaks, and cyberattacks by nefarious actors. 

The U.S. Department of Defense’s Cooperative Threat Reduction program (DoD CTR) works cooperatively with partner nations to secure, eliminate, detect, and interdict weapons of mass destruction related systems, materials, and expertise. 

With respect to biological threats, DoD CTR supports the ability of partner countries to reduce the proliferation of biological weapons (BW), BW components, and related technologies and expertise, and to facilitate the detection and reporting of diseases caused by high consequence pathogens (HCPs). 

DoD CTR activities build technical capacity in technical areas including:

In Cameroon, DoD CTR Program transitioned the Ministry of Livestock, Fisheries, and Animal Industries National Veterinary Laboratory (LANAVET) Annex in Yaoundé to host nation operation and sustainment, and initiated biosafety and biosecurity and infrastructure upgrades at the LANAVET Annex in Douala and headquarters facility in Garoua.  The completion of laboratory upgrades at all three LANAVET facilities will enhance Cameroon’s capacity to detect, diagnose, and report HCPs in the animal health sector.

In Vietnam, DoD CTR Program conducted six virtual bio-surveillance training sessions for the epidemiological partners from the Vietnamese government, including the Ministries of Health and Agriculture and Rural Development. The sessions included content on:

These sessions will help ultimately strengthen Vietnamese capacity for a multisectoral, One Health response to infectious disease outbreaks. 

Graduates of CDC’s Public Health Emergency Management (PHEM) Fellowship program established their first virtual PHEM community of practice (vCoP) in Africa in late 2022. CDC collaborated with PHEM alumni from Africa to conduct an 8-week vCoP session which aimed to create a collaborative environment where alumni could discuss best practices, seek solutions for common challenges, and share public health resources.

In 2013, CDC launched the PHEM Fellowship program. Since then, the fellowship has enrolled 177 participants from 45 countries.

Fellowship alumni are emerging public health leaders in their various countries. PHEM training helps them shape future policies and procedures within their public health organizations. The successes of fellowship alumni are testaments to CDC’s PHEM training and expertise.

A total of 55 alumni enrolled in the eight weekly vCoP sessions in Africa. The intended outcomes of the vCoP sessions were to:

The African vCoP is a prototype for vCoPs in other countries around the world. Following the success of the first vCoP in Africa, CDC plans to establish a similar vCoP in Southeast Asia in 2023.

For over 40 years, CDC has worked in more than 80 countries to expand its Field Epidemiology Training Program (FETP), comprised of Frontline, Intermediate and Advance Tiers. The CDC-supported program has produced more than 20,500 disease detectives and surveillance officers. Epidemiologists trained through FETP focus on investigating, containing, and eliminating outbreaks before they become larger threats.

In 2021 alone, FETP Advanced and Intermediate residents responded to 583 public health emergencies, including 87 COVID-19 outbreaks, 49 measles outbreaks, and 45 malaria outbreaks, identifying suspected outbreaks early and improving investigation quality.

In Bangladesh, FETP fellows were deployed to follow up on passengers at points of entry to detect and respond to the sharp rise of COVID-19 due to the delta variant. They are also conducting projects on long term effects of COVID-19, household transmission, COVID-19 prescription patterns by physicians, and seroprevalence in occupational high-risk groups, which can inform policy decisions.

FETP graduates in Sierra Leone strengthened cross-border surveillance for Acute Flaccid Paralysis (AFP), following a circulating vaccine-derived polio outbreak in neighboring Guinea and Liberia. From March to September 2021, the graduates visited 117 hard-to-reach communities in 10 districts. They talked to community members about polio and visited 409 health facilities to discuss AFP and other priority diseases with 995 health workers. This resulted in six AFP cases reported and 250 children vaccinated against polio.

In Côte d’Ivoire where FETP graduates lead on COVID-19 response, they have successfully developed a rumor tracking system to decrease vaccine hesitancy and increase vaccine demand. Along with monitoring support for adverse effects to immunization, and training vaccinators throughout the country on improving infection prevention, control, and waste management of COVID-19 vaccinations. Liberia piloted the executive FETP which introduced principles of public health and epidemiology to two cohorts, with a total of 28 hospital medical directors and other healthcare leaders.

Pakistan’s successful Field Epidemiology and Laboratory Training Program, which CDC has supported for over the past 12 years, earned the CDC Director’s award for Excellence in Epidemiology and Public Health Response.

Through FETP investments and support many countries have made significant strides in human resource capacity building. Guinea is now close to obtaining its goal of one epidemiologist per 200,000 people.

The establishment of a biosafety and biosecurity oversight system is a critical step towards mitigating risks associated with the accidental or deliberate release of dangerous pathogens.

The Ethiopia Ministry of Agriculture, with USAID support, has now made significant progress towards its own biosafety and biosecurity system. This includes a plan to strengthen biosafety and biosecurity measures and how to introduce best practices that protect humans, animals, and the environment from dangerous pathogens.

The Ministry of Agriculture has developed lists of hazardous pathogens and toxins and established a biorisk management system. So far, Ethiopia has trained 126 national and subnational veterinary laboratory staff on biosafety and biosecurity, proper use of personal protective equipment, and biosafety cabinet maintenance and calibration.

In addition, Ethiopia has developed laboratory waste management and farm biosecurity guidelines, assigned a national biosafety and biosecurity focal person for the country, and is in the process of establishing a laboratory biorisk management unit at the National Animal Health Diagnostic and Investigation Center.