Fundamental Elements of Effective Outbreak Management, Roles & Responsibilities
A roadmap and good practice guide | July 2025 The following elements of outbreak management (at each phase of the response effort) alongside those responsible for their implementation, are derived from a study conducted by the UK-PHRST and Africa CDC entitled, “Impact of International Public Health Deployments on national capacities of AU member states”, and […]
Laboratory Systems and Network Capacities in Africa: Framework for GIS-Mapping
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY Today, the demand for testing services is increasing and becoming more diverse across various countries’ networks of public and private laboratories. These laboratories are expected to offer expanded and novel testing services. However, the extent of their capacity and coverage is only known in basic terms. The laboratory capacity for epidemic-prone diseases, as […]
Enhancing Cholera Detection and Surveillance in Africa
Background Since the beginning of 2025, a total of 73,806 cholera cases and 490 deaths (CFR: 0.66%) have been reported across 22 African Union Member States. In comparison, 2024 saw 169,801 cases and 3,056 deaths, with a fatality rate of 1.8%. Over recent years, several African Union Member States have faced severe and protracted cholera […]
Prioritization and Risk Ranking of Epidemic-Prone Diseases for Emergency Preparedness and Response in Northern Africa | Cairo, Egypt 20 – 22 May 2025
Executive Summary: Amidst a fragile health emergency landscape and limited resources, the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC) adopts continuously scientific, evidence-based approaches to guide resource allocation for effective preparedness and response. Northern Africa faces a wide array of health challenges, including increases in post-acute sequelae of SARS-CoV-2 infection (long COVID 19) […]
Prioritization and Risk Ranking of Epidemic-Prone Diseases for Emergency Preparedness and Response in Southern Africa | Gaborone, Botswana 25 – 27 November 2024
Executive Summary: Since its establishment, Africa CDC has played a crucial role in improving public health across Africa by providing strategic direction, building institutional capacities, and deploying healthcare workers to address various disease threats. As part of its mandate and in accordance with the International Health Regulations (IHR 2005), Africa CDC, has been conducting prioritization […]
Mid-Year Brief: Multi-Country Cholera Outbreak in Africa (1 January – 31 July 2025)
Background Over the past decade, cholera has re-emerged as a persistent and escalating public health threat across African Union (AU) Member States (MS). Between 2014 and 2024, cholera cases reported in Africa surged from 105,287 cases and 1,882 deaths across 19 countries to 254,075 cases and 4,725 deaths across 20 countries. This represented a 141% […]
Continental Cholera Emergency Preparedness and Response Plan for Africa 1.0
Cholera remains a major public health challenge in Africa, accounting for about 82% of global cases and 93.5% of cholera-related deaths. The burden falls disproportionately on fragile, conflict-affected, and underserved areas with limited access to clean water, sanitation, hygiene and essential health services. In response to this growing threat, African Heads of State and Government […]
African Volunteers Health Corps: A Strategic Framework for the Path Forward
The African Volunteers Health Corps (AVoHC) is a network of African public health professionals established by the African Union (AU) to support public health emergency response efforts across Africa. AVoHC provides a mechanism for rapidly deploying a wide range of African experts to AU member states to respond to public health threats that necessitate surge […]
Environmental, Social and Governance Policy
The Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC) is the African Union’s (AU) health institution, established in January 2017 to enhance the continent’s capacity to prevent, detect, and respond to disease threats. Elevated to an autonomous health institution in February 2022, Africa CDC plays a pivotal role in strengthening public health institutions across […]
Pathogen Genomic Surveillance Policy Framework
During the COVID-19 pandemic, African Union (AU) Member States have made significant progress in acquiring and deploying genomic sequencing tools for detecting SARS-CoV-2 and tracking its variants. Through these tools, the continent is endowed with knowledge, capacity and related infrastructure with immense potential for routine application of pathogen genomics for evidence-based public health decision-making. It […]