Partnership to Accelerate Mpox and Other Outbreaks Testing and Sequencing in Africa

In 2024, Africa CDC conducted a continental assessment that identified major barriers to accelerating mpox testing and sequencing in Africa. These include limited surveillance; delayed collection of specimens and transportation to testing laboratories; limited access to testing kits, reagents, supplies, and sample collection materials; and a shortage of skilled human resources to deliver at speed, scale, and quality. Despite the challenges, the continental joint mpox response strategy set a bold, ambitious, but achievable goal of at least 80% testing rate for all suspected and probable cases of mpox in affected Member States and ensure diagnostic preparedness in all Member States. Recognizing the urgent need to accelerate and scale up mpox and other outbreaks testing and sequencing, the Africa CDC and ASLM (as a consortium) propose to collaborate with the European Union Health Emergency Preparedness and Response Authority (HERA), to launch the Partnership to Accelerate Mpox and Other Outbreaks Testing and Sequencing in Africa (PAMTA) initiative with a goal of spurring expanded access to diagnostics and sequencing capacities to enhance epidemiological and genomic interventions. This collaboration leverages ongoing projects in expanding the application of the genomics surveillance to more priority diseases under the Africa Pathogen Genomics Initiative 2.0 (Africa PGI 2.0). The scale-up plan will be implemented through the coordination mechanisms of the Continental Incident Management Support Team (IMST); the Africa CDC pathogen genomics program, and the continental lab network, in coordination with partners, National Public Health Institutes (NPHIs); and National Reference Laboratories (NRLs).