On 12 October 2020, a group of public, private and non-profit organizations, led by the African Union Commission through the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC), launched the Africa Pathogen Genomics Initiative (Africa PGI(external link)) in a US$100 million, four-year partnership to expand access to next-generation genomic sequencing tools and expertise designed to strengthen public health surveillance and laboratory networks across Africa.
Africa PGI will be part of the Institute of Pathogen Genomics, launched by Africa CDC in 2019, with a vision to integrate pathogen genomics and bioinformatics into public health surveillance, outbreak investigations, and improved disease control and prevention in Africa. The institute’s capacity will be strengthened to manage and provide technical oversight for Africa PGI. This new initiative will build a continent-wide disease surveillance and laboratory network based on pathogen genomic sequencing. This network will not only help identify and inform research and public health responses to COVID-19 and other epidemic threats, but also for endemic diseases such as AIDS, tuberculosis, malaria, cholera, and other infectious diseases.
PulseNet International has recently implemented whole-genome sequencing analysis of pathogens as its primary laboratory method for surveillance and investigation of foodborne and waterborne diseases. Therefore, the vision of PulseNet International aligns well with the vision of Africa PGI, to integrate pathogen genomics into public health surveillance, outbreak investigations and improved disease control and prevention.