Enhancing Global Health Security in Sub-Saharan Africa: The case for integrated One Health surveillance against zoonotic diseases and environmental threats
Pierre Gashema,
Placide Sesonga,
Patrick Gad Iradukunda,
Richard Muvunyi,
Jean Claude Mugisha,
Jerome Ndayisenga,
Tumusime Musafiri,
Richard Habimana,
Radjabu Bigirimana,
Alice Kabanda,
Misbah Gashegu,
Noel Gahamanyi,
Jonathan Izudi,
Emmanuel Edwar Siddig,
Jean Claude Semuto Ngabonziza,
Ayman Ahmed,
Tafadzwa Dzinamarira,
Leon Mutesa,
Claude Mambo Muvunyi
Affiliations
Pierre Gashema
Rwanda Joint Task Force for Marburg Virus Disease Outbreak, Ministry of Health, Rwanda Biomedical Centre, Kigali, Rwanda; Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia; Research Department, Repolicy Research Centre, Kigali, Rwanda
Placide Sesonga
Rwanda Joint Task Force for Marburg Virus Disease Outbreak, Ministry of Health, Rwanda Biomedical Centre, Kigali, Rwanda; Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia; Division of Clinical Medicine, University of global health Equity, Kigali, Rwanda
Patrick Gad Iradukunda
Research Department, Repolicy Research Centre, Kigali, Rwanda; Drugs Department, Rwanda Food and Drugs Authority, Kigali, Rwanda
Richard Muvunyi
Conservation Department, Rwanda Development Board, Kigali, Rwanda
Jean Claude Mugisha
Rwanda Joint Task Force for Marburg Virus Disease Outbreak, Ministry of Health, Rwanda Biomedical Centre, Kigali, Rwanda; Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia
Jerome Ndayisenga
Rwanda Joint Task Force for Marburg Virus Disease Outbreak, Ministry of Health, Rwanda Biomedical Centre, Kigali, Rwanda; Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia
Tumusime Musafiri
Rwanda Joint Task Force for Marburg Virus Disease Outbreak, Ministry of Health, Rwanda Biomedical Centre, Kigali, Rwanda; Partners in Health, Kigali, Rwanda
Richard Habimana
Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations,Rwanda
Radjabu Bigirimana
Rwanda Joint Task Force for Marburg Virus Disease Outbreak, Ministry of Health, Rwanda Biomedical Centre, Kigali, Rwanda; Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia
Alice Kabanda
Rwanda Joint Task Force for Marburg Virus Disease Outbreak, Ministry of Health, Rwanda Biomedical Centre, Kigali, Rwanda; Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia
Misbah Gashegu
Rwanda Joint Task Force for Marburg Virus Disease Outbreak, Ministry of Health, Rwanda Biomedical Centre, Kigali, Rwanda; Rwanda Biomedical Centre, Kigali, Rwanda
Noel Gahamanyi
Rwanda Joint Task Force for Marburg Virus Disease Outbreak, Ministry of Health, Rwanda Biomedical Centre, Kigali, Rwanda; Rwanda Biomedical Centre, Kigali, Rwanda
Jonathan Izudi
Department of Community Health, Faculty of Medicine, Mbarara University of Science and Technology, Mbarara, Uganda
Emmanuel Edwar Siddig
Rwanda Joint Task Force for Marburg Virus Disease Outbreak, Ministry of Health, Rwanda Biomedical Centre, Kigali, Rwanda; Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia
Jean Claude Semuto Ngabonziza
Rwanda Joint Task Force for Marburg Virus Disease Outbreak, Ministry of Health, Rwanda Biomedical Centre, Kigali, Rwanda; Rwanda Biomedical Centre, Kigali, Rwanda; Department of Clinical Biology, University of Rwanda, Kigali, Rwanda
Ayman Ahmed
Rwanda Joint Task Force for Marburg Virus Disease Outbreak, Ministry of Health, Rwanda Biomedical Centre, Kigali, Rwanda; Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia; Rwanda Biomedical Centre, Kigali, Rwanda
Tafadzwa Dzinamarira
School of health Systems and Public Health, University of Pretoria, South Africa
Leon Mutesa
Rwanda Joint Task Force for Marburg Virus Disease Outbreak, Ministry of Health, Rwanda Biomedical Centre, Kigali, Rwanda; Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia; Center for Human Genetics, College of Medicine and Health Sciences, University of Rwanda, Kigali, Rwanda
Claude Mambo Muvunyi
Rwanda Joint Task Force for Marburg Virus Disease Outbreak, Ministry of Health, Rwanda Biomedical Centre, Kigali, Rwanda; Rwanda Biomedical Centre, Kigali, Rwanda; Corresponding author at: Rwanda Biomedical Centre, Kigali, Rwanda.
Integrated One Health surveillance is pivotal to Africa's future health security, particularly in preventing and managing zoonotic and environmental health threats. The One Health strategy recognizes the interconnectedness of human, animal, and environmental health, allowing a holistic framework for tracking and responding to emerging and re-emerging pathogens. The One Health approach facilitates cross-sectoral data sharing and enhances surveillance, enabling the early detection and response to potential outbreaks. This proactive approach shifts the paradigm from reactive crisis management to preventive containment strategies. However, challenges such as funding gaps, limited infrastructure, limited diagnostic capacity, and weak multi-sectoral and cross-border collaborations remain. This perspective paper aims to 1) explore the effectiveness of integrated One Health surveillance in early detection and response to zoonotic diseases and environmental threats in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA), and 2) identify key challenges and proposed solutions to strengthen regional health security. A multisectoral laboratory working group (MLWG) emerged as a pillar to enable active surveillance targeting humans, animals, and the environment. This paper highlighted essential strategies for enhancing One Health surveillance in SSA in light of the recent Marburg virus disease in Rwanda. It emphasizes environmental sampling through animal excreta and wastewater surveillance for early zoonotic detection, advocates for point-of-care polymerase chain reaction (PCR) testing platforms, and multiplex models to improve decentralized diagnostics. With 48 % of African nations incorporating One Health in national agendas, a unified continental framework is needed to support broader adoption and advance regional health security.
