In 2018, when the nationwide foot-and-mouth disease outbreak began, Guinea did not have a functional veterinary lab. The outbreak devastated the Guinean livestock industry, resulting in major economic losses, including the Kankan region. Due to the inability to quickly diagnose the disease, the country lost over 10,000 animals due to sickness and death, amounting to $8 million in losses for the Guinean economy. The impact was hardest felt by the families of herders across the country, who saw their incomes decline and their source of livelihood threatened.
The U.S. Government-funded Global Health Security Agency Program (GHSA) was established in 2016 after the first Ebola outbreak, to improve and strengthen the health security capacity of several countries, including Guinea, and better equip them to address the essential requirements to prevent, detect, and rapidly respond to epidemics.
The GHSA program, with funding through the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), to the United Nations’ Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), renovated the Central Veterinary Diagnostic Laboratory of Conakry, as well as the three regional laboratories of Labé, Kankan, and N'zérékoré.; Conakry, Labé, and Kankan are now functioning, and N'zérékoré will soon be completed. The design and budget for an additional Regional Veterinary Laboratory in Faranah has been completed, and renovation will start soon. The program has equipped these laboratories, and purchased reagents and consumables for diagnostic tests, which are capable of diagnosing the primary zoonoses of the region. The regional laboratories perform basic testing throughout the interior of Guinea. to support infectious disease surveillance activities, while the Central Lab in Conakry serves as the reference laboratory.
The labs have been upgraded to international standards and have been equipped with the latest diagnostic equipment and technology. They can now diagnose priority infectious diseases onsite, including Ebola, Lassa Fever, Brucellosis, avian influenza, anthrax and rabies. The laboratory staff from the Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock have been trained in advanced techniques for diagnosing major zoonoses; as a result, they can conduct tests using various techniques, including rapid testing and Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) testing. Animal health workers and veterinarians also received practical training allowing them to conduct more effective surveillance, and better collaborate with other stakeholders to mitigate disease spread. The USAID support through FAO has also facilitated critical, quick, and safe specimen transport and sampling for laboratory testing.
According to Dr. Mamadou Lamarana Souaré, an expert epidemiologist and technical advisor at the (FAO): “Before these advances, veterinarians in the field had no evidence to back their suspicions of diseases. Now, through these laboratories they can quickly confirm their suspicions.” Additionally, per Elhadj Karifa Kourouma, chairman of the Regional Herders’ Association of Kankan, some small herders previously took samples of suspected cases of animal disease for testing to Bamako, in the Republic of Mali. He indicated that: “For us, this laboratory is a timely landmark, we no longer have to travel as far as Bamako to test our samples, and in addition, our transportation fare is refunded whenever we bring samples to the lab in Kankan.”
Thanks to the upgraded labs, there has also been a significant reduction in the time needed for laboratory confirmation of disease results. The average time taken for laboratory confirmation has fallen from more than 30 days to 14 days or less. "We were unable to carry out analyses in the interior of the country because of the lack of adequate facilities. Now, we can detect and confirm animal diseases earlier, and can implement prevention and control measures faster, thanks to these labs," stated Saidou Daff, Regional Inspector of Livestock in Kankan.
USAID’s GHSA program has also provided advanced research equipment and strengthened the diagnostic capability of Guinea’s Dalaba Institute of Science and Veterinary Medicine, one of the schools that provides training in veterinary medicine, research, and technology, as well as in control of food products, animal products, and aquaculture. At least 60 veterinarians graduate each year from this school.
A notable success came in 2020, when the newly renovated and equipped Kankan Regional Laboratory was able to rapidly diagnose rabies in Siguirini, in the Prefecture of Siguiri, as part of a joint investigation using the One Health approach. The rapid confirmation of the disease saved critical time in the care of people bitten by dogs, and in the management of the outbreak of this major disease in Guinea. This achievement is an initial example of the effects the development of improved diagnostic capacity can produce in Guinea, thanks to the GHSA program.
Ousmane Condé, USAID Guinea