Capacity building efforts for rabies diagnosis in resource-limited countries in Sub-Saharan Africa : a case report of the Central Veterinary Laboratory in Benin (Parakou)
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Authors
Djegui, Fidelia
Gourlaouen, Morgane
Coetzer, Andre
Adjin, Rachidatou
Tohozin, Rogatien
Leopardi, Stefania
Mauti, Stephanie
Akpo, Yao
Gnanvi, Corneille
Nel, Louis Hendrik
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Frontiers Media
Abstract
Rabies has been listed as a priority zoonotic disease in many African countries and the
countdown to reach the goal of eliminating dog-mediated human rabies deaths by 2030
means that disease controlmeasures need to be applied fast. In this context, an essential
pillar of any national plan to control rabies is the implementation of reliable diagnostic
techniques to ensure the success of field surveillance systems. Although many African
countries have received international support for the control of rabies–some countries,
like Benin, have not received a similar level of support. Indeed, until 2018, Benin was
not able to diagnose rabies and rabies diagnosis in animals as well as humans relied
solely on observed clinical symptoms. Although the Central Veterinary Laboratory (CVL)
of Parakou had the equipment to implement two recommended tests, the lack of specific
reagents and skills prevented the implementation of a rabies diagnostic service. Here we
present the joint efforts of the national authorities in Benin, intergovernmental agencies,
and non-governmental organizations to assess the strengths and weaknesses of the
government’s rabies control efforts. We have applied the Stepwise Approach toward
Rabies Elimination (SARE) analysis, implemented rabies diagnostic capacities at the CVL
of Parakou, characterized strains of rabies virus circulating in Benin, and finally integrated
an inter-laboratory comparison program.
Description
DATA AVAILABILITY STATEMENT : The datasets presented in this study can be found in online
repositories. The names of the repository/repositories and
accession number(s) can be found at: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.
gov/genbank/, MT370501/MT370507.
Keywords
Rabies diagnostic, Capacity building, Surveillance, Rabies elimination, Phylogenetic analysis (phylogeny), SDG-03: Good health and well-being
Sustainable Development Goals
Citation
Djegui, F., Gourlaouen, M., Coetzer, A., Adjin, R., Tohozin, R., Leopardi, S., Mauti, S., Akpo, Y., Gnanvi, C., Nel, L.H. & De Benedictis, P. (2022) Capacity Building Efforts for Rabies Diagnosis in Resource-Limited Countries in Sub-Saharan Africa: A Case Report of the Central Veterinary Laboratory in Benin (Parakou). Frontiers in Veterinary Science 8:769114. DOI: 10.3389/fvets.2021.769114.