Developing African arbovirus networks and capacity strengthening in arbovirus surveillance and response: findings from a virtual workshop

Leo Braack, Shobiechah A. Wulandhari, Emmanuel Chanda, Florence Fouque, Corinne S. Merle, Udoka Nwangwu, Raman Velayudhan, Marietjie Venter, A. Gildas Yahouedo, Jo Lines, Poe Poe Aung, Kallista Chan, Tarakegn A. Abeku, James Tibenderana, Sian E. Clarke

This meeting report presents the key findings and discussion points of a 3-h virtual workshop, held on 21 September 2022, and organized by the "Resilience Against Future Threats through Vector Control (RAFT)" research consortium. The workshop aimed to identify priorities for advancing arbovirus research, network and capacity strengthening in Africa. Due to increasing human population growth, urbanization and global movement (trade, tourism, travel), mosquito-borne arboviral diseases, such as dengue, Chikungunya and Zika, are increasing globally in their distribution and prevalence. This report summarizes the presentations that reviewed the current status of arboviruses in Africa, including: (i) key findings from the recent WHO/Special Programme for Research & Training in Tropical Diseases (WHO/TDR) survey in 47 African countries that revealed deep and widespread shortfalls in the capacity to cope with arbovirus outbreak preparedness, surveillance and control; (ii) the value of networking in this context, with examples of African countries regarding arbovirus surveillance; and (iii) the main priorities identified by the breakout groups on "research gaps", "networks" and "capacity strengthening".