Conference Abstract | Volume 8, Abstract ELIC2025191 (Oral 037) | Published: 18 Aug 2025
Giuditta Annibaldis1,2,&, Fara Raymond Koundouno3, Youssouf Sidibe4, Jacob Camara5, Kékoura Ifono3, Barré Soropogui5, Sarah Ryter1,2, Hugo Soubrier1,2, Mette Hinrichs1,2, Julia Hinzmann1,2, Saa Lucien Millimono3, Karifa Kourouma3, Tamba Elie Millimouno3, Fernand M’Bemba Tolno3, Faya Moriba Kamano3, Eugène Kolie5, Moussa Condé5, Nourdine Ibrahim5, Bakary Sylla5, Fanta Berete5, Mamadou Alpha Baldé5, Mamadou Dioulde Barry4, Bely Sonomy4, Soua Koulemou4, Mariame Traore4, Kaba Keita4, Beate Becker-Ziaja1,2, Carolina van Gelder1,2, Emily Victoria Nelson1,2, Nils Peter Petersen1,2, Mia Le1,2, Anke Thielebein1,2, Lisa Oestereich1,2, Meike Pahlmann1,2, Joon Klaps6, Philippe Lemey6, Liana Eleni Kafetzopoulou6, Stephan Günther1,2, N’Faly Magassouba5, Sanaba Boumbaly5, Sophie Duraffour1,2
1Bernhard Nocht Institute of Tropical Medicine, Department of Virology, Hamburg, Germany, 2German Center for Infection Research, Hamburg, Germany, 3Laboratoire des Fièvres Hémorragiques Virales de Gueckédou, Gueckédou, Guinea, 4Laboratoire des Fièvres Hémorragiques Virales de N’Zérékoré, Hôpital Régional de N’Zérékoré, N’Zérékoré, Guinea, 5Centre de Recherche en Virologie – Laboratoire des Fièvres Hémorragiques Virales de Guinée, Conakry, Guinea, 6Department of Microbiology, Immunology and Transplantation, Rega Institute, KU Leuven, Leuven, Belgium
&Corresponding author: Giuditta Annibaldis, Bernhard Nocht Institute of Tropical Medicine (BNITM), Hamburg, Germany. Email: giuditta.annibaldis@bnitm.de
Received: 31 Mar 2025, Accepted: 09 Jul 2025, Published: 18 Aug 2025
Domain: Infectious Disease Epidemiology
Keywords: Lassa fever, molecular diagnostics, surveillance, laboratory capacity
©Giuditta Annibaldis 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: Giuditta Annibaldis et al., Guinea’s five-year progress in Lassa fever surveillance: Strengthening diagnostic and genomic surveillance capabilities. Journal of Interventional Epidemiology and Public Health. 2025;8(ConfProc5):00037. https://doi.org/10.37432/jieph-confpro5-00037
Viral hemorrhagic fevers (VHFs) remain a persistent public health concern, especially in resource limited settings. The 2014–2016 Ebola outbreak highlighted the need to strengthen laboratory preparedness and diagnostic capacity in endemic areas. In response, a long-term laboratory capacity building program was initiated in Guinea to enhance the country’s ability to timely detect and respond to VHF outbreaks, including Lassa fever.
Since 2016, our program has focused on improving infrastructure, training local laboratory personnel, and providing VHF diagnostics support, including Lassa fever. This enabled the setup (Gueckédou), and strengthening of existing capacities (Conakry and N’Zérékoré), creating a network of three VHF diagnostic laboratories in Guinea, two in the Forest region. Molecular testing by RT-PCR (altona Diagnostics), serological assays, and nanopore sequencing (Oxford Nanopore Technologies), were set up.
Systematic testing enabled the detection of VHFs in Guinea, particularly in Forest Guinea. Over 20 laboratory staff were trained in advanced diagnostic procedures across the three laboratories. A total of 34 Lassa fever cases have been identified across the three laboratories, all between 2020 and 2024. In country genomic surveillance capacity permitted the characterization of Lassa viruses as subclusters of lineage IV. Case fatality rate was 59%, with approximately one third of patients receiving ribavirin treatment. Notably, 82% of Lassa fever cases were detected in the Forest region, although a nosocomial outbreak was identified in Conakry in 2022. The two new serology units in Gueckédou and N’Zérékoré allowed seroprevalence research in Forest Guinea, revealing widespread Lassa virus circulation in the region.
This study presents a comprehensive overview of the Lassa fever cases detected within the network of the three VHFs labs in Guinea since 2017. The strengthened diagnostic infrastructure and local workforce has improved outbreak detection, providing valuable insights into Lassa fever epidemiology and guiding future prevention strategies.
Menu