Conference Abstract | Volume 8, Abstract ELIC2025315 (Poster 159) | Published: 06 Aug 2025
Joseph Okoeguale1,&, Yemisi Ighodalo1, Odia Ikponmwosa1, Jacquilin Agbukor1, Thomas Olokor1, Rita Esumeh1, Mojeed Rafiu1, Kelly Iraoyah1, Osahogie Edeawe Pristar Omogbai1, Peter Okokhere1, Danny Asogun1, Ola Egbuta1, Cyril Erameh, Beate Becker-Ziaja2,3, Jasmin Scharnberg2,3, Ephraim Ogbaini-Emovon1, Till Omansen2, Stephan Günther2,3, Sophie Duraffour2,3, Emily Nelson2,3, George Akpede1, Sylvanus Okogbenin1, Reuben Eifediyi1
1Institute of Viral and Emergent Pathogens, Control and Research, Irrua Specialist Teaching Hospital, Edo State, Nigeria, 2Bernhard Nocht Institute for Tropical Medicine, Hamburg, Germany, 3The European Mobile Laboratory, Hamburg, Germany
&Corresponding author: Okoeguale Joseph, Institute of Viral and Emergent Pathogens, Control and Research, Irrua Specialist Teaching Hospital, Irrua, Edo State, Nigeria, Email:okoegualejoseph85@gmail.com
Received: 31 May 2025, Accepted: 09 Jul 2025, Published: 06 Aug 2025
Domain: Infectious Disease Epidemiology
Keywords: Mobile laboratory, collaboration, outbreak response, turnaround time
©Joseph Okoeguale 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: Joseph Okoeguale et al., Mobile labs in tutbreak response: Lessons from north-south collaboration for pandemic response in West Africa. Journal of Interventional Epidemiology and Public Health. 2025;8(ConfProc5):00303. https://doi.org/10.37432/JIEPH-CONFPRO5-00303
West Africa continues to face recurring outbreaks of Lassa fever and other infectious diseases, hindered by limited diagnostic capacity. To address this, the Irrua Specialist Teaching Hospital (ISTH) collaborated with the Bernhard Nocht Institute for Tropical Medicine (BNITM) to establish a mobile laboratory facility in 2013. This report describes the contributions and challenges of mobile laboratory deployment during outbreak response. The mobile laboratory was deployed to Sierra Leone during the 2014-2016 Ebola outbreak, COVID-19 pandemic in Delta State (2020-2022), and Lassa Fever outbreak in Northern Nigeria (2023). Key metrics analyzed include deployment time, samples tested, and turnaround time reduction.
Deployment occurred within 24-72 hours of official requests, reducing turnaround time from 7-12 days to 24 hours. This facilitated prompt triage, timely treatment, and early discharge of patients who tested negative, enabling swift containment of outbreaks. The mobile laboratory enhanced diagnostic capacity with accurate on-site testing, improved response times, and strengthened collaboration between national and international health partners.
Mobile diagnostic laboratories represent a scalable, rapid-response tool for enhancing outbreak control efforts across West Africa and beyond. The collaborative model with BNITM demonstrates the value of strong regional and international partnerships in outbreak preparedness and response. The ISTH mobile laboratory facility plays a critical role in infectious disease response strategy, showcasing its flexibility, adaptability, and effectiveness in responding to complex public health emergencies.
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