LOME, Togo – West African laboratory scientists are warning that health systems across the region are losing preparedness between major outbreaks, urging governments to strengthen disease surveillance, diagnostic capacity and the health workforce before another epidemic develops.
The warning came Friday at a regional congress in Lomé, where laboratory specialists discussed lessons from the Ebola and COVID-19 crises and the region’s ability to detect emerging diseases. The scientists called for greater cooperation among West African governments and sustained investment in laboratories and trained personnel.
Kossi Kabo, head of the Association of Medical Biologists of Togo and a co-chair of the congress, said countries need to detect outbreaks earlier rather than waiting until transmission has already expanded.
The concern reflects a recurring problem in epidemic preparedness: systems built or strengthened during a crisis can weaken once the immediate threat recedes.
Preparedness can deteriorate between outbreaks
Scientists at the Lomé meeting said governments need to maintain surveillance and diagnostic systems even when there is no major epidemic dominating public attention.
Arthur Bodurie Calvin Garber, president of the Sierra Leone Association of Medical Laboratory Scientists, said investment needs to cover people as well as physical infrastructure. Laboratory networks require trained specialists and continued operational support if they are to function effectively when an outbreak occurs.
The issue extends beyond individual laboratories.
Africa CDC describes regional laboratory networks as a key part of detecting, characterizing and tracing disease transmission. Its Regional Integrated Surveillance and Laboratory Network connects public-health laboratories, national institutes, academic institutions and other partners across Africa to strengthen preparedness and response.
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The scientists meeting in Togo said stronger regional cooperation would help countries detect threats earlier and coordinate responses across borders.
Ebola remains a warning from the region’s recent history
The scientists pointed to the 2014–2016 West African Ebola epidemic as a major example of the consequences of delayed detection and limited preparedness.
At least 11,000 people died during that epidemic, overwhelmingly in Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone. The crisis exposed weaknesses in surveillance, laboratory capacity, treatment infrastructure and emergency coordination across affected countries.
More recent outbreaks have shown that the threat has not disappeared.
Africa CDC said this week that an ongoing Bundibugyo virus disease outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo has not yet been consistently controlled across all affected areas. Its Emergency Consultative Group said transmission was declining in some locations but increasing in others, particularly North Kivu.
The continental agency recommended maintaining the emergency response, strengthening surveillance and contact identification, and restoring essential health services disrupted by the outbreak.
The situation in Congo is not a West African outbreak, but it is part of the broader continental environment that the scientists in Lomé say requires stronger preparedness.
Detection is only one part of outbreak readiness
Early laboratory confirmation can determine how quickly health authorities can identify a pathogen and begin tracing contacts.
Africa CDC says effective laboratory systems provide evidence needed to confirm suspected pathogens, monitor transmission and guide treatment and prevention measures.
That capacity also needs to be connected to surveillance systems and emergency-response structures. A laboratory may identify an infection, but health authorities still need trained personnel, reporting systems, treatment facilities and community cooperation to contain its spread.
The Lancet Global Health reported this year that lessons from African outbreaks between 2022 and 2025 point to the importance of maintaining routine investments between crises, including decentralized laboratories, digital surveillance, community structures and clinical-trial readiness.
The findings reinforce the message from the Lomé congress: preparedness cannot be treated solely as an emergency expenditure activated after an outbreak begins.
Regional cooperation is becoming more important
Disease outbreaks rarely respect national borders, particularly in West Africa, where populations and trade move across several countries.
The scientists therefore called for governments to cooperate on detection and response rather than relying entirely on national systems.
Africa CDC’s regional laboratory framework similarly emphasizes coordination among national public-health institutes, laboratories, academic institutions and other partners. Its Western Africa network is one of five regional networks established under the continental system.
For countries with limited resources, shared laboratory expertise, training and surveillance capacity can also reduce duplication and improve access to specialized capabilities.
The challenge is sustaining those systems before an emergency creates political pressure to rebuild them.
The warning from Lomé is therefore less about predicting a particular disease outbreak than about the conditions that determine how quickly one can be detected and contained.
With infectious threats continuing to emerge across Africa, scientists say the period between crises should be treated as part of outbreak preparedness, not as a reason to scale it back.
Reporting Credit: Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention — current assessment of the Bundibugyo virus disease outbreak, surveillance gaps and regional laboratory preparedness; Association of Medical Biologists of Togo — statements from the Lomé regional laboratory congress; Sierra Leone Association of Medical Laboratory Scientists — comments on workforce and infrastructure investment; Togo Ministry of Health — national public-health and epidemic surveillance documentation.
