Seeding a West/Central African Cholera Genomic Surveillance Network

Justin Lessler of the International Vaccine Access Center, Baltimore of the Johns Hopkins University Bloomberg School of Public Health in the U.S. and Anthony Ahumibe of Nigeria Centre for Disease Control in Nigeria will launch a West African disease surveillance network for cholera to leverage local pathogen genome sequencing efforts for disease control and ultimately elimination. New genome sequencing technologies at substantially decreased costs have opened up the opportunity for laboratories in low-resource settings to monitor local disease by sequencing the genomes of the causative pathogens, which is critical for understanding disease epidemiology and guiding control efforts. However, these laboratories often lack the ability to analyze complex sequencing data. To address this, they will hold sequencing training workshops; provide equipment, reagents, and ongoing bioinformatic support; and establish a cross-country peer network using online collaborative tools. In addition, in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, support for SARS-CoV-2 sequencing will be provided to selected sites in the disease surveillance network.