The African region experiences around 100 public health events annually, of which 80% are caused by infectious diseases. Although only a portion of these public health events are caused by emerging and dangerous pathogens (EDP), recurring outbreaks of diseases such as Ebola Virus Disease (EVD) and Dengue Fever/Dengue Haemorrhagic Fever are a feature of the regional situation.
The WHO Emerging and Dangerous Pathogen Laboratory Network (EDPLN) in Africa aims to provide a diagnostic service for a range of pathogenic agents Due to the dangerous nature of these organisms, a safe laboratory environment, such as a Biosafety Level 3 (BSL-3) laboratory, is required to conduct some diagnostic procedures. This laboratory must be designed to ensure that the staff and surrounding area are protected from the agents handled within and must be able to be run in a sustainable fashion. The presence of a BSL-3 laboratory in a country, whether human or animal, is a valuable resource as it provides diagnostic capacity during outbreaks and in-between outbreaks.
The requirements for such laboratories were originally defined in the WHO Laboratory Biosafety Manual (WHO LBM), which was first published in 1983. Additionally, many countries have established regulatory frameworks to further define these laboratories and produced guidance documents or legislature specifying their design features and requirements. However, these activities have tended to be led by developed countries whose laboratory features include specifications that require a high degree of technical expertise to construct, maintain and re-certify. Although these solutions work well in countries with a developed bio-containment infrastructure, they may be impractical for countries, which have greater financial constraints, and lack infrastructure and trained personnel.
The Assessment Tool for Key Processes associated with the Design, Construction, Operation, Maintenance and Regulation of BSL-3 Laboratories in the WHO African Region was created to meet the needs of the WHO AFRO Emerging and Dangerous Pathogen Laboratory Network (AFR EDPLN) and provides information on the design, construction and commissioning of bio-containment laboratories for the diagnosis of a range of emerging viral pathogens.
The Assessment Tool document contains a laboratory assessment tool, which provides a framework for the assessment of BSL-3 laboratories.
Following trial assessments in Ghana, Uganda and Kenya, the tool was revised to better fit its purpose. The final version was sent to the remaining AFR EDPLN laboratories to survey the status of BSL-3 laboratories in the Region. This document reports on the status of the 13 AFR EDPLN laboratories.