Poliomyélite - Centre Pasteur du Cameroun

POLIO SURVEILLANCE ACTIVITIES (NAT LAB AND WHO INTER-COUNTRY)

The Centre Pasteur du Cameroun is a national and inter-country laboratory for poliovirus surveillance in Cameroon, Chad, Gabon, Equatorial Guinea, and Sao Tome and Principe. Diagnosis is made using stool samples from children with Acute Flaccid Paralysis (AFP) to detect wild poliovirus, vaccine-derived poliovirus, or vaccine-derived poliovirus. In addition to AFP surveillance, the CPC polio laboratory has been monitoring polioviruses in the environment since May 2015. This activity is carried out on samples from the five countries. Diagnosis is made using wastewater collected from previously identified environmental sites. Following the transition of the COVID-19 pandemic, an increase in activity was observed in 2023 compared to 2022. 5,876 samples were received and analyzed in 2023 compared to 5,336 in 2022. Most of the samples came from Chad and Cameroon. The total number of sabin polioviruses (203) is significantly increasing between 2022 and 2023.

Monitoring of Acute Flaccid Paralysis (AFP)

Diagnosis is made from stool samples of children with AFP. Discordant wild poliovirus (WPV) and vaccine-derived poliovirus isolates are sent for sequencing to CDC-Atlanta or NICD-South Africa for confirmation as wild poliovirus or vaccine-derived poliovirus.

Annual report

The workload increased significantly in 2017, with 5,590 stool samples analyzed (compared to 3,266 in 2016). As every year, most of the samples came from the CHA and CAE. The results obtained show that: i) no wild poliovirus was reported, ii) no vaccine-derived poliovirus was identified, iii) the total number of sabin polioviruses is increasing, and iv) the rate of NPENT (non-polio enterovirus) remained below the 10% threshold, although it increased to 9.39% compared to 7.2% in 2016.

Environmental surveillance of polioviruses

Since its establishment in May 2015, the program has seen a considerable increase in activity, particularly in terms of the number of sites opened and, consequently, the number of samples collected. New sites were opened primarily in the southern (Ebolowa, two sites); northern (Garoua, four sites); and northwest (Bamenda, two sites) regions, providing coverage of all ten regions of Cameroon. Regarding the other countries in the sub-region, a new additional site was opened in Chad, bringing the total number of sites to five. Towards the end of 2017, activities were implemented in Gabon with the opening of five sites, and in Equatorial Guinea with four sites. In addition to the countries in the sub-region covered by Cameroon, other countries requested a second assessment from the CPC in 2017 for the analysis of their samples. This is the case in Mali with the sending of 12 sample concentrates for analysis.

Annual report

The laboratory received and analyzed 800 samples in 2017, for a total of 49 sites.
- Cameroon: 597 samples from 31 sites.
- Chad: 129 samples from 5 sites.
- Gabon: 54 samples from 5 sites.
- Equatorial Guinea: 8 samples from 4 sites.
- Mali: 12 concentrated samples from 4 sites.
Cell cultures allowed the isolation of wild polioviruses (WPV), vaccine-type polioviruses (VTPs) types 1, 2, and 3 or Sabin-like (SL), non-polio enteroviruses (NPENT), and NPENT + SL mixtures.

Distribution of samples by site and by city for each country

Measles/Rubella

Measles/Rubella Surveillance Activities As the WHO National Reference Laboratory for measles and rubella, the CPC is responsible for ensuring the serological diagnosis of these pathologies. Samples from suspected cases are sent to the CPC via the GTC/PEV for testing for the presence of IgM anti-measles and rubella virus using the ELISA technique (Euroimmun diagnostic kits […]

Avian flu

Avian Flu Surveillance Activities The Cameroon Pasteur Center is mandated by the Ministry of Public Health and the WHO to conduct diagnostic tests for the detection of avian viruses. Between 2016 and 2017, Cameroon suffered an avian influenza epidemic with high poultry mortality in several outbreaks across the country in the Central, South, West, Adamawa, […]

HIV/AIDS

HIV/AIDS surveillance activities The CPC houses the National Reference Laboratory for HIV viral load determination. The laboratory processed 21,392 HIV VL requests in 2023 compared to 24,313 in 2022, a decrease of 12.01%. Our expertise is used in HIV input quantification committees and all other issues related to HIV VL testing. The CPC is responsible […]

Rage

Rabies surveillance activities Rabies is endemic in Cameroon, and dogs are the primary vector of human rabies transmission. Only one sample from a suspected human rabies patient was received at the CPC in 2023 and tested negative following confirmatory testing. No biological analysis was performed on animal samples suspected of being rabid. Animal rabies In […]

Meningitis

Meningitis surveillance The bacteriology laboratory of the Pasteur Center of Cameroon is responsible for confirming suspected cases of meningitis in Cameroon. Weekly reports are sent to the Ministry of Public Health and various partners. In 2023, a total of 99 CSFs were analyzed at the Pasteur Center Annex in Garoua, of which 5 were positive. […]

Human Flu

Activités de surveillance de la Grippe Humaine Le CPC est Centre National de Référence de la Grippe au Cameroun. A ce titre, il effectue une surveillance organisée sous forme de surveillance sentinelle et une surveillance biologique ciblant essentiellement les formes bénignes de la grippe. Le diagnostic biologique se fait grâce à la mise en place […]

Ebola

Ebola surveillance activities The CPC is the national reference laboratory for the surveillance of Viral Hemorrhagic Fever (VHF). The laboratory is responsible, in close collaboration with the Ministry of Public Health, for ensuring the biological confirmation of suspected cases of VHF in Cameroon. National VHF surveillance was significantly affected by the very first outbreak of […]

Cholera

Cholera surveillance activities The CPC carries out biological confirmation of cases and transmits daily reports to the authorities and the various partners involved in response actions. A total of 94 suspect stools were sent to the CPC for cholera vibrio testing in 2023. Following the analyses, 35 cases of cholera were confirmed, all of the […]

Yellow Fever

Yellow fever surveillance activities The CPC houses both the national laboratory for Cameroon, Equatorial Guinea and Sao Tome and Principe, and the Regional Reference Laboratory (RRL) for yellow fever for 10 countries in the WHO African Region. In its role as RRL, it provides training, technical support, quality control and quality assurance activities to the […]