Perspectives of public health laboratories in emerging infectious diseases

Abstract

The world has experienced an increased incidence and transboundary spread of emerging infectious diseases over the last four decades. We divided emerging infectious diseases into four categories, with subcategories in categories 1 and 4. The categorization was based on the nature and characteristics of pathogens or infectious agents causing the emerging infections, which are directly related to the mechanisms and patterns of infectious disease emergence. The factors or combinations of factors contributing to the emergence of these pathogens vary within each category. We also classified public health laboratories into three types based on function, namely, research, reference and analytical diagnostic laboratories, with the last category being subclassified into primary (community-based) public health and clinical (medical) analytical diagnostic laboratories. The frontline/leading and/or supportive roles to be adopted by each type of public health laboratory for optimal performance to establish the correct etiological agents causing the diseases or outbreaks vary with respect to each category of emerging infectious diseases. We emphasize the need, especially for an outbreak investigation, to establish a harmonized and coordinated national public health laboratory system that integrates different categories of public health laboratories within a country and that is closely linked to the national public health delivery system and regional and international high-end laboratories.

Evidence Decision-Making Policy Practice in Emerging Pandemics and Epidemics Threats Preparedness and Response Operations in Africa

“…Further, the assumption is that research gets produced, and then packaged to make it accessible to nonacademics to increase the chances of it being used [25,28]. Arguably this operationalization is becoming increasingly outdated perspective knowledge is generated within its context of use, referred to variously as mode knowledge production, engaged collaboration and participation, interactive research, participatory research [29,30]. Hence we advocate that integrated KT at all levels is capital and argue that innovative collaborative and participative approaches to knowledge production and use in the context of threats and epidemics disasters must be flexible, scalable, sustainable and cost-effective.…”

“…These could also be supported by technical assistance through knowledge transfer, scaling up capacity building in pharmaceutical and biotechnological products production in in sourcing and productivity, improving the performance, promoting favorable policies, incentives and efficient dairy supply chains [2,7,30]. As well as improving the operational efficiency in addressing maternal-child health, malnutrition and poverty alleviation, enhanced contingency knowledge and skills strategies.…”

“…It is also important to acknowledge that framing the research endeavour as a collaborative act may not be compatible with some people's worldview or skill set. Some national reference laboratory will also be able to play an important role as part of a regional laboratory network to strengthen regional public health laboratory capacity in providing specific referral functions for public health diagnostic laboratories in other countries that do not have a reference laboratory [7,9,30,32].…”

“…Whereas space-time models can identify the timing and location of significant outbreak events for informing and defining active control and elimination strategies in expand the sustainability of such networks in order to tackle diagnostic and institutional weaknesses while strengthening strong regional partnerships across the continent. No government or organization can address such complex global threats [30,31,32].…”

“…Documented key causes of poverty in Africa include lack or limited access to information and knowledge directed or mindset perceptions and conditioned choices, reliance on primary commodities exports because of wide fluctuations in prices [29,30]. Moreover, low productivity among people in all sectors because of poor health, low skills levels and inefficient land use.…”