Conference Abstract | Volume 8, Abstract ELIC2025136 (Poster 005) | Published: 28 Jul 2025
Williams Imoiboho1,&, Victoria Etuk2, James Aglah1, Victor Fatimehin1,3, Celine Mbilo1, Fatima Zanna1
1Support for Pandemic Prevention in ECOWAS Region, Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ Nigeria & ECOWAS), Abuja, Nigeria, 2International Research Center of Excellence (IRCE), Institute of Human Virology, Abuja, Nigeria, 3Regional Center for Surveillance and Disease Control, Abuja, Nigeria
&Corresponding author: Williams Imoiboho, Support for Pandemic Prevention in ECOWAS Region, Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ Nigeria & ECOWAS), Abuja, Nigeria, Email: imoiboho.williams@giz.de
Received: 04 May 2025, Accepted: 09 Jul 2025, Published: 28 Jul 2025
Domain: Infectious Disease Epidemiology
Keywords: Disease surveillance, Data quality, Health information systems, One Health
©Williams Imoiboho 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: Williams Imoiboho et al Assessing the quality of Lassa fever surveillance data across West African countries: An analysis of the WAHO regional data portal. Journal of Interventional Epidemiology and Public Health. 2025;8(ConfProc):00149. https://doi.org/10.37432/JIEPH-CONFPRO5-00149
Lassa fever, a viral haemorrhagic disease endemic to West Africa, demands strong crossborder surveillance and timely data sharing to support effective control efforts. The West African Health Organization (WAHO), through its Regional Centre for Surveillance and Disease Control (RCSDC), coordinates disease intelligence via a regional data portal. This study examines how well national surveillance data aligns with what is reported to the WAHO portal.
We analysed Lassa fever data submitted to the WAHO (https://data.wahooas.org/outbreaks), portal from January 2023 to December 2024, focusing on suspected and confirmed cases and deaths. National Situation Reports (SitReps) from Nigeria, Ghana, and Liberia were reviewed, and descriptive statistics (frequencies and proportions) were used to assess concordance between the national and regional figures using Stata Version 18.
Between January 2023 and December 2024, national SitReps from Nigeria, Ghana, and Liberia reported 19,947 suspected cases, 2,783 confirmed cases, and 497 deaths. In contrast, the WAHO portal recorded only 253 suspected cases, 57 confirmed, and 30 deaths. Nigeria’s reports showed 9,155 suspected cases, 1,270 confirmed, and 227 deaths in 2023, and 10,098 suspected, 1,309 confirmed, and 214 deaths in 2024, none of which was reflected on the portal. Ghana’s 2023 data recorded 30 suspected, 27 confirmed cases, and 1 death, but the portal reported only 14 suspected/confirmed cases and 1 death. Liberia’s 2024 SitReps reported 225 suspected, 39 confirmed, and 11 deaths, while the portal showed 90 suspected, 11 confirmed, and 13 deaths suggesting overreporting of deaths.
There is a significant gap in data concordance between national SitReps and regional reporting on the WAHO portal. Underreporting and inconsistencies undermine efforts to conduct timely regional risk assessments and coordinated responses. Strengthening data harmonization and coordination processes as well as improving real-time reporting mechanisms are essential for regional epidemic preparedness and response.
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