Empowering Africa’s Biosecurity and Pandemic Preparedness: A Call for Action
Africa is home to a diverse ecosystem of wildlife and human populations. Interactions between several ecosystems occur on a daily basis. In many regions of Nigeria and across various parts of Africa, bushmeat holds a special culinary significance. The term “bushmeat” encompasses a wide array of wild animals hunted for sustenance and enjoyment. This diverse selection includes animals like antelopes, chimpanzees, fruit bats, rats, porcupines, and snakes. The risk of a “spillover” is obvious.
Covid-19 brought to the fore the reason why no part of the world should be neglected in biosecurity and pandemic preparedness. Concentrating research in one part of the world is no longer ideal and the EA forum should work at developing capacities in regions of the world with little capacity in Biosecurity. Research and capacity to detect and maintain active surveillance against natural or engineered outbreaks in Nigeria as with several African countries is reduced. Very few labs have the capacity for such research.
We should proactively prioritize the training, provisioning, and coordination of initiatives related to biosecurity research and pandemic preparedness in Africa. This necessitates a heightened level of intention and focus. If there are opportunities available for training, I would be keenly interested in participating and contributing to such endeavors.
My employer Gryphon Scientific (a US-based biosecurity consultancy) has actively worked on this topic for a while. Feel free to send me a private message if interested.