Conference Abstract | Volume 8, Abstract 5 | Published: 11 Jul 2025
Francis Ngosa Mwenya1,2,3,&, Harriet Chiyangi2,3, Nyambe Sinyange2,4, Dabwitso Banda2,4, Cheepa Habenzu2,5, Danny Sinyange2,4, Cephas Sialubanje1
1Levy Mwanawasa Medical University, 2Zambia Field Epidemiology Program, 3Zambia National Public Health Institute, 4University Teaching Hospital, Zambia, 5Zambia Army Medical Research and Development Directorate
&Corresponding author: Francis Ngosa Mwenya, Zambia National Public Health Institute, Lusaka, Zambia, Email: mwenyafrancis@gmail.com
Received: 3 Jun 2024, Accepted: 11 Aug 2024, Published: 11 Jul 2025
This is part of the Proceedings of the Zambia Field Epidemiology Training Program Alumni Conference, September 11 – 13, 2024
Keywords: Training centres, Influenza, SARS-COV2, Environmental factors, Laboratory
©Francis Ngosa Mwenya et al. Journal of Interventional Epidemiology and Public Health (ISSN: 2664-2824). This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution International 4.0 License (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
Cite this article: Francis Ngosa Mwenya, et al. Investigation into the Surge of Respiratory Infections in Zambia Army Training Camps, October 2023. Journal of Interventional Epidemiology and Public Health. 2025;8(Conf Proc 4):5. https://doi.org/10.37432/JIEPH-CONFPRO4-00005
Acute Respiratory Infections (RTI) are important causes of morbidity and mortality despite being self-limiting with minor and temporary effects. In August 2023 Zambia Army enrolment of about 5000 recruits; and from August through October 2023, there were reports of a surge in respiratory tract infections among the recruits. We conducted an outbreak investigation to describe and confirm the cause of the surge of respiratory infections in Zambia Army Training Camps.
A descriptive cross-sectional study design utilizing quantitative methods was used to identify active cases in all the four training camps. We collected nasopharyngeal swabs for analysis of Influenza and SARS-COV2 from both trainees and instructors who presented with signs and symptoms at the clinic using purposive sampling. Data on demographics, environmental assessment, vaccination status were collected using an electronic questionnaire. A 7-1-7 standardized tool was used to measure outbreak detection, reporting and response within 7 days.
We interviewed 108 military trainees including 35 females and 65 males. The median age was 23.5 years (IQR: 20.0 – 24.8 years). Among 108 lab samples, 0 tested positive for Influenza, and 10 out of 34 (29.4%) from SFTS tested positive for SARS-COV2. We observed poor ventilation in overcrowded 10 x5 meter tents and 56% of trainees sharing bed spaces. All trainees were vaccinated as it is an existing Army public health policy. Two training camps detected, responded and reported the outbreak within the 7-1-7 timeline.
The surge in the respiratory infections could have been caused by SARS-COV2 with noted overcrowding providing a favourable ground for transmission. Facilities were unable to detect, report and respond within 7 days. Public health actions included regular mass screening for SARS-COV2 and proposed training of surveillance officers in e-IDSR to enhance real-time reporting.
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