Global Disease Detection: Kenya

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has been a trusted partner in Kenya since 1979 to help address public health challenges ranging from malaria to HIV/AIDS. In 2004, at the invitation of the Kenyan government, CDC established a Global Disease Detection (GDD) Regional Center in coordination with the World Health Organization (WHO) to develop greater country and regional ability to meet endemic disease burdens along with new and changing pathogens.

A laboratory scientist performs a diagnostic test in the Global Disease Detection Regional Center in Kenya’s BSL-3 laboratory. The majority of outbreaks responded to through the Center have a confirmed cause through analysis facilitated through the laboratory.

GDD is U.S. CDC’s principal program for identifying and containing emerging infections around the world, and has been designated by WHO as a Collaborating Center for Implementation of International Health Regulations National Surveillance and Response Capacity. A central focus of GDD is the establishment and expansion of GDD Regional Centers in each WHO region.

The GDD Center in Kenya is headquartered at the Kenya Medical Research Institute (KEMRI) in Nairobi with a field presence in Kisumu. Primary partners include KEMRI, the Ministry of Public Health and Sanitation, the Ministry of Medical Service, WHO, the Joint United Nations Program on HIV/AIDS, and other multilateral organizations, nongovernmental institutions, and multiple U.S. government agencies.

Connecting Resources

The Center’s activities and resources connect to WHO country and regional offices and Integrated Disease Surveillance and Response countries. As a result, surveillance and laboratory capabilities are joined throughout Africa.

The Center coordinates strategies and technical expertise with a broad range of partners all contributing to improved public health throughout Africa. For instance, the Center connects vital resources contributed through the U.S. Department of State and other global partners to build the region’s laboratory capacity through enhancing biosafety/biosecurity, disease detection and control, and engagement with scientists and public health leaders across the region.

Building Disease Detection and Response Capacity

Using the International Health Regulations (2005) as an organizing framework, the Center is helping Africa develop its own sustainable systems and capable workforce – relying on local rather than remote resources to develop expertise in:

• Emerging infectious disease detection and response
• Field epidemiology and laboratory training
• Pandemic influenza preparedness and response
• Laboratory systems and biosafety
• Zoonotic disease investigation and control
• Health communication and information technology

Responding to Health Threats

Together with Kenya’s Ministry of Public Health and Sanitation, Ministry of Medical Services, WHO, and other partners, the Center assists the country and the region in detecting and responding to serious outbreaks of cholera, Ebola, drug-resistant tuberculosis, influenza, Rift Valley fever, and typhoid. Environmental conditions have contributed to additional health threats, including a severe outbreak of aflatoxin from contaminated corn, an important source of food.

Making a Regional Impact

In November 2007, CDC helped respond within 48 hours to an Ebola hemorrhagic fever outbreak in Bundibugyo District, Uganda, that was caused by a new type of Ebola virus.

From 2006-2009, the Center in Kenya has supported:

• Effective response to 74 outbreaks in seven countries
• Ongoing disease surveillance at all provincial hospitals in Kenya for select conditions and diseases reportable within days – and sometimes hours – of the occurrence
• Detection of 18 pathogens, including one new to the world, Nodavirus
• Establishment of laboratory diagnostic testing capacity for 32 pathogens
• Graduation of 38 future global health leaders from four countries as part of the two-year Field Epidemiology and Laboratory Training Program
• Participation of 4,836 public health officials from 20 countries in short-term public health exercises, including infection control, epidemiology, laboratory, pandemic preparedness, and rapid response