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The African continent faced to many public health events. An effective organization is the key element for managing public health events. Health Emergency Operations Centers (HEOC) are strategic bodies that can help control such situations. We would like to share our experience about the HEOC implementation in Senegal, which is among the first in Africa while highlighting the challenges we have the HEOC concept is quite common in other continents, it is an innovation in Africa. And yet, Africa is the most affected by emergency situations and disasters and very few of its country possess HEOC. Consequently, emergency and disaster management interventions are done in a nonsystematic manner. The comprehension of the concept, the mission and organization need to be well understood for setting up a HEOC the added value of HEOC is great for African country to face public health events.The African continent faced to many public health events. An effective organization is the key element for managing public health events. Health Emergency Operations Centers (HEOC) are strategic bodies that can help control such situations. We would like to share our experience about the HEOC implementation in Senegal, which is among the first in Africa while highlighting the challenges we have the HEOC concept is quite common in other continents, it is an innovation in Africa. And yet, Africa is the most affected by emergency situations and disasters and very few of its country possess HEOC. Consequently, emergency and disaster management interventions are done in a nonsystematic manner. The comprehension of the concept, the mission and organization need to be well understood for setting up a HEOC the added value of HEOC is great for African country to face public health events.

Background Dengue fever is a mosquito born disease associated with self-limited to life threatening illness. First detected in Senegal in the nineteenth century, and despite its growing incidence this last decade, significant knowledge gaps exist in our knowledge of genetic diversity of circulating strains. This study highlights the circulating serotypes and genotypes between January 2017 and December 2018 and their spatial and temporal distribution throughout all regions of Senegal. Methods We used 56 dengue virus (DENV) strains for the analysis collected from 11 sampling areas: 39 from all regions of Senegal, and 17 isolates from Thiès, a particular area of the country. Two real time RT-qPCR systems were used to confirm dengue infection and corresponding serotypes. For molecular characterization, CprM gene was sequenced and submitted to phylogenetic analysis for serotypes and genotypes assignment. Results Three dengue virus serotypes (DENV-1–3) were detected by all used methods. DENV-3 was detected in 50% (28/56) of the isolates, followed by DENV-1 and DENV-2, each representing 25% (14/56) of the isolates. DENV-3 belongs to genotype III, DENV-1 to genotype V and DENV-2 to Cosmopolitan genotype. Serotype 3 was detected in 7 sampling locations and a co-circulation of different serotypes was observed in Thiès, Fatick and Richard-toll. Conclusions These results emphasize the need of continuous DENV surveillance in Senegal to detect DENV cases, to define circulating serotypes/genotypes and to prevent the spread and the occurrence of severe cases.

The spread of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 began later in Africa than in Asia and Europe. Senegal confirmed its first case of coronavirus disease on March 2, 2020. By March 4, a total of 4 cases had been confirmed, all in patients who traveled from Europe.

(1) Objectives: Studies on mpox patterns, severity predictors, and public health impacts in Burundi remain limited. Therefore, we aimed to identify the clinical predictors and determinants of mpox complications among hospitalized patients in Bujumbura, Burundi, during an active outbreak. (2) Methods: We conducted a prospective cohort study of laboratory-confirmed mpox cases across three treatment centers (July–October 2024). Clinical characteristics and outcomes were assessed through a systematic review of medical and laboratory records supplemented by structured interviews with patients or caregivers. Risk factors for disease complications were evaluated using multivariate Firth penalized logistic regression. (3) Results: Complications developed in 3.1% of 850 patients (54.4% male; median age, 20.3 years). Conjunctivitis (odds ratio [OR]: 27.30; 95% confidence interval [CI], 7.67–122.23) and sore throat (OR: 12.63; 95% CI, 5.78–30.21) were significant predictors of severe disease progression. Conversely, generalized rash (OR, 0.10; 95% CI, 0.04–0.24) and lymphadenopathy (OR, 0.24; 95% CI, 0.08–0.62) were associated with a mild disease course. Sexual transmission was the predominant route of infection (58.6%). (4) Conclusions: Noncutaneous manifestations, particularly conjunctivitis and sore throat, are early indicators of mpox severity. These findings inform clinical risk stratification in resource-limited settings and highlight the need for further investigation of pathophysiological mechanisms.

We diagnosed a human case of Crimean Congo hemorrhagic fever (CCHF) in Bokidiawe (North-eastern Senegal), 2019. The phylogenetic analysis revealed that the isolate belongs to genotype III and is closely related to a strain reported in Mauritania in 1984 and Spain in 2016. Distribution area of CCHF in Senegal is progressively increasing.

Background: Past and recent outbreaks have highlighted the vulnerability of humans to infectious diseases, which represent serious economic and health security threats. A paradigm shift in the management of sanitary crises is urgently needed. Based on lessons from the 2014 Ebola outbreak, the Praesens Foundation has developed an all-terrain mobile biosafety laboratory (MBS-Lab) for effective field diagnostics capabilities. Objective: The aim of the study was to train African teams and run a field evaluation of the MBS-Lab, including robustness, technical and operational sustainability, biosafety, connectivity, turn-around times for testing and result delivery. Methods: The MBS-Lab was deployed in Senegal in October 2017 for a six-month field assessment under various ecological conditions and was mobilised during the dengue outbreaks in 2017 and 2018. Results: The MBS-Lab can be considered an off-grid solution that addresses field challenges with regard to working conditions, mobility, deployment, environment and personnel safety. Blood ( n = 398) and nasal swab ( n = 113) samples were collected from 460 study participants for molecular screening for acute febrile illnesses and respiratory infections. The results showed that malaria (particularly in Kédougou) and upper respiratory tract infections remain problematic. Suspected dengue samples were tested on board during the dengue outbreaks in 2017 (882 tests; 128 confirmed cases) and 2018 (1736 tests; 202 confirmed cases). Conclusion: The MBS-Lab is an innovative solution for outbreak response, even in remote areas. The study demonstrated successful local ownership and community engagement. The MBS-Lab can also be considered an open mobile healthcare platform that offers various opportunities for field-deployable, point-of-care technologies for surveillance programmes.

Many lessons have been learned 10 years after the Ebola virus disease outbreak in West Africa, but urgent work is now needed to prevent another outbreak.

The Ebola virus disease, as a first epidemic in West Africa, stands as the most deadly one throughout history. Guinea, the source of the epidemic, Sierra Leone and Liberia remain the most strongly affected. That epidemic thoroughly destabilized the health system of those countries. Following Nigeria, Senegal received its first imported case from the neighboring Republic of Guinea. In that sub regional psychotic context, such a situation has been handled and managed starting from the potential of a health system that is already suitably structured. The organization of the response, the management of the communication system and the rigorous monitoring of contacts have been decisive in the control of the epidemic. Our countries have to be prepared in order to face health threats, and that is the reason why the need to empower our health systems is important.

The novel coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has spread from China to the rest of the world. Africa seems less impacted with lower number of cases and deaths than other continents. Senegal recorded its first case on March 2, 2020. We present here data collected from March 2 to October 31, 2020 in Senegal. Socio-demographic, epidemiological, clinical and virological information were collected on suspected cases. To determine factors associated with diagnosed infection, symptomatic disease and death, multivariable binary logistic regression and log binomial models were used. Epidemiological parameters such as the reproduction number and growth rate were estimated. 67,608 suspected cases were tested by the IPD laboratories (13,031 positive and 54,577 negative). All age categories were associated with SARS-CoV-2 infection, but also patients having diabetes or hypertension or other cardiovascular diseases. With diagnosed infection, patients over 65 years and those with hypertension and cardiovascular disease and diabetes were highly associated with death. Patients with co-morbidities were associated with symptomatic disease, but only the under 15 years were not associated with. Among infected, 27.67% were asymptomatic (40.9% when contacts were systematically tested; 12.11% when only symptomatic or high-risk contacts were tested). Less than 15 years-old were mostly asymptomatic (63.2%). Dakar accounted for 81.4% of confirmed cases. The estimated mean serial interval was 5.57 (± 5.14) days. The average reproduction number was estimated at 1.161 (95%CI: 1.159-1.162), the growth rate was 0.031 (95%CI: 0.028-0.034) per day. Our findings indicated that factors associated with symptomatic COVID-19 and death are advanced age (over 65 years-old) and comorbidities such as diabetes and hypertension and cardiovascular disease.