USG Influenza Surveillance, Preparedness, and Response in

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 NAIROBI 000985 DEPT FOR AF/E Driano, Please pass to CDC Atlanta SIPDIS E.O. 12958:N/A TAGS: PGOV PREL KE SUBJECT: USG Influenza Surveillance, Preparedness, and Response in Kenya and East Africa UNCLASSIFIED - ENTIRE TEXT. ¶1. SUMMARY: Most Sub-Saharan African countries including Kenya have lacked proper laboratories and public health infrastructure to conduct influenza surveillance in support of outbreak response. In 2006, CDC - Kenya, and the US Army Medical Research Unit - Kenya (USAMRU-K) initiated a collaborative project with the Kenya Ministry of Public Health and Sanitation (MoPHS) and the Kenya Medical Research Institute (KEMRI) to conduct influenza surveillance in Kenya. As a result of these new surveillance systems, Kenya leads the continent in the ability to detect and respond to the current outbreak of H1N1 Flu. Although to date the virus has not been identified in Kenya, this cable outlines our interagency programs at post relevant to the detection and treatment of pandemic influenza should it spread to the region. END SUMMARY. -------------- Influenza Surveillance and Response Activities -------------- ¶2. CDC-Kenya supports in three surveillance systems for influenza in Kenya. In addition, USAMRU-K supports an expansive human sentinel influenza surveillance system and gives significant technical and financial support to the Kenya National Influenza Centre -- the national influenza reference laboratory. All USG-funded surveillance work has built capacity and the knowledge base within the Kenya public health community, which is essential for them to respond successfully to the threat of 2009 influenza A (H1N1) virus. These surveillance systems have been and will continue to be a critical way to monitor the potential introduction of influenza A (H1N1) virus into Kenya and the region, especially now at the beginning of the annual influenza season in Kenya and the southern hemisphere. -------------- National Sentinel Surveillance for Influenza -------------- ¶3. CDC-K, together with the Kenyan Ministry of Public Health and Sanitation (MoPHS),operates a sentinel surveillance system for influenza at 10 sites in Kenya - seven provincial hospitals, two refugee camp hospitals and the national referral hospital in Nairobi. Surveillance officers are stationed at all 10 sites, and take samples from patients who present to the hospitals with acute respiratory illness. Samples are tested at two laboratories: the National Influenza Center, a KEMRI laboratory jointly equipped and staffed by CDC, USAMRU-Kenya, and KEMRI; and the CDC-Kenya International Emerging Infections Program laboratory at CDC-Kenya. Since national sentinel surveillance was initiated in October 2006, over 13,000 samples have been tested. -------------- DoD sponsored Human Influenza Sentinel Surveillance System -------------- ¶4. USAMRU-K has developed a complementary sentinel surveillance system for ILI. Cases are identified through their geographically diverse surveillance site network of eight District Hospitals within Kenya. Specimen collection has been ongoing since July 2006. Nasopharyngeal samples are taken from Kenyan volunteers who present to the participating health facilities with acute upper respiratory symptoms. Samples are tested at the National Influenza Center in Nairobi. To date, nearly 8,000 specimens have been tested. -------------- Population-Based Surveillance for Influenza -------------- ¶5. The CDC operates population-based surveillance for a number of diseases at two sites in Kenya --- Kibera, a dense informal urban settlement in Nairobi, and Lwak, a rural area in Western Kenya. In Kibera and Lwak, households are visited every two weeks by community interviewers who ask about illnesses in the home, and collect data on illnesses and health care seeking practices. The surveillance population in Kibera is 28,000, and there are 25,000 people in Lwak. In both sites, field workers go to each household every two weeks recording illnesses and deaths. Participants within the surveillance system are allowed free access to the field clinic for any acute medical condition Samples from patients with acute respiratory illnesses are collected daily. To date, no patients with influenza A (H1N1) have been identified in either of the tw population-based sites. -------------- Laboratory Support at the Kenya National Influenza Center (NIC) by USAMRU-K -------------- NAIROBI 00000985 002 OF 002 ¶6. Though in existence prior to DoD involvement, USAMRU-K has greatly enhanced the capacity of the Kenya NIC to serve Kenya in the diagnosis of influenza infections. All activities are conducted in close consultation and with KEMRI leadership and results are jointly reported. All influenza diagnostic work is done by a joint team of KEMRI, USAMRU-K, and CDC staff with USAMRU-K providing quality assurance and safety guidance to ensure that the Kenya NIC meets international standards. Since 2006, USAMRU-K has invested over $2 million in laboratory equipment purchases and two major refurbishments which have doubled the size of the NIC. CDC-Kenya also supports the NIC with laboratory equipment purchases in conjunction with USAMRU-K. The NIC now has the capacity to reliably diagnose influenza within hours with a number of modern laboratory techniques. -------------- CDC Laboratory Diagnostics in Nairobi -------------- ¶7. The Biosafety Level 3 CDC-IEIP Laboratory located on the KEMRI main campus, Nairobi, Kenya provides invaluable surge capacity in the event of a larger outbreak. Also, the CDC laboratory cross-pollinates with the NIC staff by lending manpower, supplies, and expertise. -------------- Regional Sentinel Surveillance -------------- ¶8. CDC-Kenya has provided technical epidemiologic and laboratory support to help establish influenza sentinel surveillance in at least 10 countries in Africa. CDC-Kenya has sent epidemiologists and laboratorians to Ethiopia, Rwanda, Tanzania, Uganda, Democratic Republic of Congo, and Nigeria, and has trained epidemiologists, clinicians, and laboratorians in a number of other countries on issues related to influenza surveillance. ¶9. USAMRU-K through its Global Emerging Infections System (GEIS) Program is developing and supporting surveillance programs in Uganda, Cameroon, Tanzania, and the Seychelles. Great effort is made to coordinate these regional activities with the CDC presence there to the benefit of the host nations. -------------- Outbreak Response -------------- ¶10. CDC-Kenya and USAMRU-K have been closely involved in the national and regional response to the 2009 influenza A (H1N1) worldwide outbreak. CDC-Kenya and USAMRU-K epidemiologists have helped the GoK to develop case definitions for possible cases in Kenya and reporting cases forms for Kenyan clinicians, and communications messages for the public. The CDC-Kenya IEIP laboratory tested all specimens from persons under investigation for the first week of the activity. CDC-Kenya expects to get the specific H1N1 diagnostic assays from CDC-Atlanta this week, at which point Kenya will have full H1N1 testing in country. ¶11. CDC-Kenya has also helped coordinate the African regional response, working with partners at the African Regional Office of WHO, WHO-Geneva, and CDC-Atlanta, and working with countries throughout the continent. Likewise the USAMRU-K is coordinating preparedness and response initiatives with public health colleagues in Uganda, Cameroon, Tanzania, and the Seychelles. -------------- USG Interagency Cooperation and Response -------------- ¶12. The CDC-Kenya Influenza Program Director has lead the US Embassy Pandemic Task Force in Kenya, which met on April 28 to discuss the US Embassy response to the H1N1 outbreak and the implications for US mission employees and their families, Foreign Service Nationals, and US citizens living in Kenya. The meeting led to a meeting of the EAC, where pandemic tripwires were further discussed, and a town hall meeting at the US embassy earlier this week. RANNEBERGER