Reducing the threat from high-risk pathogens causing febrile illness in Guinea
Abstract
To test the hypothesis that a proportion of acute febrile illness (AFI) in Guinea is misdiagnosed and potentially the result of high-consequence zoonotic pathogens that represent public health and proliferation risks, Georgetown University (GU) will work with Guinean, US and South African partners to build local capacity to assess circulating pathogens and improve clinical and biosurveillance protocols for biological threat reduction, using a One Health approach. With the Ministry of Health (MOH), we will enroll patients presenting with AFI at Prefectural Health Department hospitals in Dalaba and Forécariah. Patient samples will be tested for a suite of AFIassociated normative and high-consequence pathogens using multiplex real-time PCR and serology at the Center for Training and Research in Rural Health. Additional singleplex testing will be conducted at other specialized laboratories. Positive samples, and a subset of negatives, will be analyzed further using next generation sequencing. Laboratory results will be compared to the presumptive clinical diagnoses, and also to prefectural surveillance records. Questionnaires will be used to characterize patients’ animal exposure and, working with Guinea’s Higher Institute of Veterinary Science and Medicine, non-lethal sampling of domestic/peridomestic animals in the patients’ communities will be undertaken to determine incidence of zoonotic pathogens.
Document Details
- Document Type
- DoD Grant Award
- Publication Date
- Oct 13, 2021
- Source ID
- HDTRA12110028
Entities
People
- Claire Standley
Organizations
- Defense Threat Reduction Agency
- Georgetown University