The first 8 months of COVID-19 pandemic in three West African countries: leveraging lessons learned from responses to the 2014–2016 Ebola virus disease outbreak

Abstract

Experience gained from responding to major outbreaks may have influenced the early COVID-19 pandemic response in several countries across Africa. We retrospectively assessed whether Guinea, Liberia, and Sierra Leone, the three West African countries at the epicentre of the 2014-2016 Ebola virus disease outbreak, leveraged the lessons learned in responding to COVID-19 following the World Health Organization's declaration of a public health emergency of international concern (PHEIC). We found relatively lower incidence rates across the three countries compared to many parts of the globe. Time to case reporting and laboratory confirmation also varied, with Guinea and Liberia reporting significant delays compared to Sierra Leone. Most of the selected readiness measures were instituted before confirmation of the first case and response measures were initiated rapidly after the outbreak confirmation. We conclude that the rapid readiness and response measures instituted by the three countries can be attributed to their lessons learned from the devastating Ebola outbreak, although persistent health systems weaknesses and the unique nature of COVID-19 continue to challenge control efforts.

COVID-19 and Health Sector Development Plans in Africa: The Impact on Maternal and Child Health Outcomes in Uganda

“… 15–17 The Ebola outbreak was declared a public health emergency of international concern as it might result in an unprecedented outbreak, and the lessons learned from the Ebola outbreaks were crucial to developing the COVID-19 responses in Africa. 18 , 19 …”

Epidemiological Trends of Coronavirus Disease 2019 in Sierra Leone From March 2020 to October 2021

“…This finding was consistent with the report from Barrie et al ( 16), the overall weighted seroprevalence was 2.6% in Sierra Leone in March 2021, and overall seroprevalence was low compared with countries in Europe and the America. Similarly, results from a previous report showed that there were relatively lower incidence rates across three countries in Africa (Sierra Leone, Guinea, and Liberia) compared to many parts of the globe (17). In Nigeria, there were 802,143 tests conducted from February 2020 to April 2021, with a resulting positivity rate of 3.2%, and 66,121 and 91,644 people tested positive for SARS-CoV-2 infection during two waves (18).…”

Multiple introduced lineages and the single native lineage co-driving the four waves of the COVID-19 pandemic in West Africa

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