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Lessons learned for surveillance system strengthening through capacity building and partnership engagement in post-Ebola Guinea, 2015–2019

The 2014–2016 Ebola outbreak in Guinea revealed systematic weaknesses in the existing disease surveillance system, which contributed to delayed detection, underreporting of cases, widespread transmission in Guinea and cross-border transmission to neighboring Sierra Leone and Liberia, leading to the largest Ebola epidemic ever recorded. Efforts to understand the epidemic's scale and distribution were hindered by problems with data completeness, accuracy, and reliability. In 2017, recognizing…

Public health emergency management capacity building in Guinea: 2014-2019

Abstract

Before the Ebola virus disease (EVD) outbreak of 2014-2016, Guinea did not have an emergency management system in place. During the outbreak, Global Health Security Agenda (GHSA) 2014-2019 funds made it possible to rapidly improve the country's capacity to manage epidemics through the development of public health emergency operation centres (PHEOCs) at the national and district levels. Since the end of the response, the infrastructure, staff, and systems of these…

Leveraging Partnerships to Maximize Global Health Security Improvements in Guinea, 2015-2019

Abstract
In response to the 2014-2016 West Africa Ebola virus disease (EVD) outbreak, a US congressional appropriation provided funds to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to support global health security capacity building in 17 partner countries, including Guinea. The 2014 funding enabled CDC to provide more than 300 deployments of personnel to Guinea during the Ebola response, establish a country office, and fund 11 implementing partners through…

Using artificial intelligence to read chest radiographs for tuberculosis detection: A multi-site evaluation of the diagnostic accuracy of three deep learning systems

Deep learning (DL) neural networks have only recently been employed to interpret chest radiography (CXR) to screen and triage people for pulmonary tuberculosis (TB). No published studies have compared multiple DL systems and populations. We conducted a retrospective evaluation of three DL systems (CAD4TB, Lunit INSIGHT, and qXR) for detecting TB-associated abnormalities in chest radiographs from outpatients in Nepal and Cameroon. All 1196 individuals received a Xpert MTB/RIF assay and a CXR…

Airport Entry and Exit Screening during the Ebola Virus Disease Outbreak in Sierra Leone, 2014 to 2016

We present entry and exit screening outcomes on all persons passing through Freetown International Airport (FNA) in Sierra Leone during the period 1st September 2014 to 4th February 2016. A total of 166,242 persons underwent screening for Ebola Virus Disease (EVD) at FNA. Five persons were denied air travel from Sierra Leone after secondary screening. Laboratory testing revealed none were positive for EVD. No cases were identified through entry screening route. The public health value of…

Tuberculosis in migrants moving from high-incidence to low-incidence countries: a population-based cohort study of 519 955 migrants screened before entry to England, Wales, and Northern Ireland

BACKGROUND: Tuberculosis elimination in countries with a low incidence of the disease necessitates multiple interventions, including innovations in migrant screening. We examined a cohort of migrants screened for tuberculosis before entry to England, Wales, and Northern Ireland and tracked the development of disease in this group after arrival.

METHODS: As part of a pilot pre-entry screening programme for tuberculosis in 15 countries with a high incidence of the disease, the…

Mainstreaming mental health and psychosocial support in camp coordination and camp management. The experience of the International Organization for Migration in the north east of Nigeria and South Sudan

This article examines the reports of the International Organization for Migration to mainstream mental health and psychosocial considerations into camp coordination and camp management, through capacity building and provision of direct psychosocial support. It focusses on the activities carried
out by the Internationa lOrganization for Migration in South Sudan, in the Protection of Civilians Areas, and in the north east of Nigeria, with the aim to identify relevant…

Prevalence of and risk factors for active tuberculosis in migrants screened before entry to the UK: a population-based cross-sectional study

Background: An increasing number of countries with low incidence of tuberculosis have pre-entry screening programmes for migrants. We present the fi rst estimates of the prevalence of and risk factors for tuberculosis in migrants from 15 high-incidence countries screened before entry to the UK.

Methods: We did a population-based cross-sectional study of applicants for long-term visas who were screened for tuberculosis before entry to the UK in a…

Cameroon's multidrug-resistant tuberculosis treatment programme jeopardised by cross-border migration

The manuscript highlights some of the consequences of cross-border migration for caring for people with TB and ending this epidemic, as well as relevant issues on clinical and public health management of MDR-TB in Cameroon.