February 15, 2020

expert reaction to news of first COVID-19 case in Africa

The first case of COVID-19 has been confirmed in Egypt by the director of the African CDC.

Dr Bharat Pankhania, of the University of Exeter Medical School, said:

“We know there’s a lot of travel between China and Africa, so it’s no surprise that the first case of the virus has been detected in Africa. It must now be an urgent priority to contain person-to-person transmission and ensure the virus does not spread to poorer parts of the continent, where the infrastructure and crowded living conditions would make containment strategies via quarantine impossible.

“We urgently need all nations to share their combined logistical and diagnostic expertise together with expert clinical and epidemiological and public health support. We need the global community working on the ground alongside African organisations to contain this virus and stop it spreading to a degree that could have serious global implications.”

Professor Christl Donnelly, WHO Collaborating Centre for Infectious Disease Modelling, Imperial College London, said:

“In our modern interconnected world, it is not surprising for imported COVID-19 cases to be detected in previously unaffected countries.  It is encouraging that the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC) are working with the World Health Organization and African Member States to support diagnostic and surveillance capabilities.”

Dr Andrew Freedman, Reader in Infectious Diseases and Honorary Consultant Physician, Cardiff University School of Medicine, said:

“It was always inevitable that the virus would spread to the African continent.  Indeed there may well already be more cases in other African countries that have evaded detection.  The concern is that it may prove impossible to contain the spread of COVID-19 in developing countries with less robust health systems;  this, in turn, could lead to wider global spread.”

 Prof Trudie Lang, Director, The Global Health Network, Nuffield Department of Medicine, University of Oxford, said: 

“The WHO declared this to be a PHE because they wanted to support less well-resourced nations in responding and preparing for cases. This first case in Africa is important but not unexpected. The patient is isolated and contacts found and tested (all negative). The response of the Africa CDC shows the strong networks and collaboration that there is in place across Africa and these organisations  are working now to train and prepare staff in order to maximise capabilities to detect and isolate cases. A key challenge is diagnostic capacity across much of Africa and here is where global support and research to find validated, inexpensive kits that can be used in the community is going to be critical.” 

Dr Michael Head, Senior Research Fellow in Global Health, University of Southampton, said:

“Cairo is the destination typically receiving the most visitors and workers from China, so it is unsurprising the first case on the African continent is seen in Egypt. There have been concerns about the impact of the coronavirus outbreak when it arrives in Africa. Therefore, it is reassuring that there has been some rapid contact tracing and all contacts have tested negative. This gives confidence that this might be an isolated case with minimal transmission.

Notes to Editors:

Africa Identifies First Case of Coronavirus Disease: Statement by the Director of Africa CDC, ADDIS ABABA, ETHIOPIA, 15 FEBRUARY 2020. On 14 February 2020, the Minister of Health and Population of Egypt, Dr Hala Zayed, confirmed the first case of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) in Egypt.

Note re Michael Head’s point (data at table 6 https://www.worldpop.org/events/china)

Declared interests

None received.