Problem Statement
Mosquito transmitted viruses such as Yellow Fever, Dengue, Chikungunya and Dengue are an emerging public health threat. This research seeks to identify areas at high risk of transmission of these viruses, develop new diagnostic and surveillance tools and set up sentinel sites for the surveillance of these viruses in Cameroon.
Progress Highlights
I have applied and obtained the required ethical and administrative clearances for my project. I have initiated the purchase of required materials and reagents for the project. I have also began testing archived samples to identify communities with previous exposure to mosquito transmitted viruses.
Key Findings
Preliminary results suggest a high circulation of arboviruses in Cameroon especially Dengue and other arboviruses not previously reported.
Potential Impact
With the launch of the WHO Arbovirus Initiative most local authorities are striving to put in place a surveillance system for these arboviruses. Unfortunately, this authorities do not have any available surveillance data. My initial study and results will be extremely beneficial to local authorities as they plan to set up a surveillance system for arboviruses in Cameroon.
Summary (give a simple explanation for non-scientific audiences)
Mosquito transmitted viruses such as chikungunya, dengue, yellow fever and zika constitute one of the greatest threats to the health and wellbeing of humans and animals. Africa is a source and at the epicentre of several of these mosquito-transmitted viruses. In recent years, these viruses have re-emerged causing epidemics, infecting over 400 million people every year, and causing severe diseases such as hepatitis, paralysis, haemorrhage, birth defects and death. Detection and surveillance of these viruses is extremely challenging for at least two reasons 1) absence of appropriate diagnostic and surveillance tools and 2) lack of properly trained scientists. This project seeks to address these research gap and establish a research and training program on mosquito-transmitted viruses at Centre Pasteur of Cameroon with support from partners in Germany and USA.
Grantee Description
Dr. Ngu Njei Abanda is a research scientist at Centre Pasteur du Cameroon (CPC). CPC is a public health and research institute in Cameroon. At CPC, he serves as the lead scientist for the arbovirus public health and research laboratory and the WHO Yellow Fever Regional Reference Laboratory. He is a graduate from the University of Hawaii at Manoa, USA where he obtained a PhD in tropical Medicine in 2017. His doctoral research focused on drug resistant Mycobacterium tuberculosis.
Dr. Abanda now conducts basic and applied research on mosquito transmitted viruses. such as chikungunya, yellow fever, and dengue viruses. He wishes to identify areas at high risk of transmission of these viruses, develop and test new diagnostic and surveillance tolls and set up sentinel sites for the surveillance of these mosquito transmitted viruses in Cameroon. He is particularly interested in developing a research and training program on the diagnosis, pathophysiology, surveillance, and prevention of mosquito transmitted viruses in Cameroon that will train the next generation of scientist.
Project: Improving the diagnosis and surveillance of emerging arboviruses (IDASO)
In the IDASO project we are working towards establishing a comprehensive research and training program on mosquito-transmitted viruses in Cameroon. With support from collaborating partners at the Technische Universität Braunschweig, Germany, and the University of Texas Medical Branch, USA, we plan to train 3 PhD-level and 3 Masters-level students enrolled at a local University in Cameroon. The training of the students will entwined around four research projects: 1) Determine the usefulness of alternative non-invasive samples (saliva/urine) for diagnosing CHIKV, DENV and YFV by RT-PCR, 2) Use antibody phage display to select highly specific CHIKV, DENV and YFV antibodies for diagnostic assays and recombinant viral antigens for serological diagnostics, 3) Assess the performance of mosquito traps with honey-baited FTA cards as a tool for the surveillance of arboviruses in mosquitoes, 4) Determine the seroprevalence of arboviruses among serum samples collected from 2010–2022 in Cameroon. This program will be supported by a technical advisory group composed of local senior scientist and senior scientist at partner institutions.
