Between September and October 2017, 53 serum samples were collected from patients at the health post of Santhiaba, which falls under Louga’s health district. These suspected samples were immediately sent to Dakar for confirmation tests. Serologic and molecular diagnostic then revealed 14 positive Dengue cases. Following these results, the Ministry of Health and Social Action via COUS (the Centre for Health Emergencies) has solicited Institut Pasteur de Dakar (IPD) and Praesens’ support for both virological and epidemiological investigations in this region.
Meanwhile the Mobile Lab was in operation in Kédougou in Southeast Senegal, that field mission was abruptly stopped. The teams and the Mobile Lab embarked on a 700 kilometres journey and were immediately deployed to the health district in the epidemic area, after which they started testing on the spot and delivered the first diagnostic results within less than 36 hours after departing from Kédougou.
Rapid and accurate molecular diagnostic testing, close to the affected communities, has proved essential to contain the outbreak. Offering a safe environment to treat potentially contagious samples, the Mobile Lab was used as a platform to process serum samples from acute febrile patients in an endemic setting for four weeks. Resulting from a collaboration with the Institute of Tropical Medicine in Antwerp, Praesens was able to offer multi-pathogen tropical fever prototype tests for the diagnosis of acute arboviral and malarial infections. With the help of the community focal point, over 500 samples were collected across the region and processed in the Mobile Lab with 79 positive confirmed cases. A comprehensive and multi-disciplinary epidemic response has set the example in efficiently monitoring and eventually containing the outbreak: the National Hygienic Service, the National Education and Health Information Service, the IPD departments of Virology, Entomology and Bio-informatics have all been contributing to this great team effort, under the motto “Soyons Ensemble”! Senegalese media outlets (press, television, radio) covered this epidemic response and helped raising public awareness around the topic.
Praesens and IPD have maintained their presence in the region for an additional four weeks and worked with the health centers of Barkedji, Linguere and Dahra on sporadic Dengue cases and respiratory viruses that were on the rise. With its rural nomadic people, this region offers a quite unique context to showcase how important a decentralized approach to healthcare is. With the support of the local health district, we set up an 'advanced strategy' in the remote village of Samaly including medical consultations, a vaccination campaign and molecular diagnostics being offered at the local communities at lowered prices.
These experiences perfectly illustrate that by investing in local capacity building efforts that stretch over to the whole West-African sub-region, it will enable Senegal and IPD to take local ownership of potential future outbreak responses and to address regional laboratory testing needs. By placing patients, their healthcare providers and local communities at the centre of our activities, we hope to succeed in building solutions that are truly owned and operated by local stakeholders. The Mobile Lab was able to demonstrate its unique rapid response capabilities and this campaign will most certainly act as a case-study that de facto recognizes the Mobile Lab’s very raison d’être.
