Summary of your 'study carrel' ============================== This is a summary of your Distant Reader 'study carrel'. The Distant Reader harvested & cached your content into a collection/corpus. It then applied sets of natural language processing and text mining against the collection. The results of this process was reduced to a database file -- a 'study carrel'. The study carrel can then be queried, thus bringing light specific characteristics for your collection. These characteristics can help you summarize the collection as well as enumerate things you might want to investigate more closely. This report is a terse narrative report, and when processing is complete you will be linked to a more complete narrative report. Eric Lease Morgan Number of items in the collection; 'How big is my corpus?' ---------------------------------------------------------- 159 Average length of all items measured in words; "More or less, how big is each item?" ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 6169 Average readability score of all items (0 = difficult; 100 = easy) ------------------------------------------------------------------ 49 Top 50 statistically significant keywords; "What is my collection about?" ------------------------------------------------------------------------- 159 Africa 26 COVID-19 21 Ebola 18 disease 17 covid-19 15 HIV 14 South 14 SARS 10 health 10 Health 9 EVD 8 virus 8 Europe 7 West 7 China 7 Asia 6 human 6 chinese 5 malaria 5 infection 5 country 5 World 5 United 5 SSA 5 America 4 States 4 AIDS 3 water 3 vaccine 3 study 3 patient 3 global 3 case 3 blood 3 Security 2 woman 2 treatment 2 severe 2 saharan 2 risk 2 rabie 2 population 2 pandemic 2 outbreak 2 migration 2 figure 2 fever 2 dog 2 control 2 change Top 50 lemmatized nouns; "What is discussed?" --------------------------------------------- 4196 disease 3745 virus 3553 country 3310 health 2987 % 2740 infection 2711 case 1794 study 1716 outbreak 1704 population 1687 patient 1611 risk 1471 malaria 1291 year 1200 system 1185 transmission 1166 food 1147 number 1130 control 1115 area 1100 pandemic 1090 fever 1087 people 1082 datum 1079 time 1079 response 1076 region 1059 epidemic 1032 child 958 treatment 947 development 934 vaccine 921 rate 910 death 883 level 876 factor 866 world 836 community 835 change 820 blood 813 impact 808 care 807 water 805 bat 803 group 802 analysis 801 specie 787 cell 773 animal 750 result Top 50 proper nouns; "What are the names of persons or places?" -------------------------------------------------------------- 4336 Africa 1757 Ebola 1486 al 1269 China 1251 COVID-19 1242 et 1117 South 1001 . 878 HIV 816 Health 675 SARS 631 West 626 World 578 Asia 503 United 473 Europe 366 America 360 States 354 CoV-2 326 Nigeria 326 East 314 AIDS 313 Saharan 300 TB 300 Global 297 International 295 • 294 Organization 290 EVD 274 Fig 273 Republic 267 EU 257 Food 254 Congo 241 SSA 238 Kenya 233 US 229 R. 228 India 228 Disease 220 MERS 218 North 217 National 216 Table 212 Development 211 African 203 WHO 188 Ghana 186 March 181 A Top 50 personal pronouns nouns; "To whom are things referred?" ------------------------------------------------------------- 2968 it 1734 we 1211 they 393 them 385 i 148 us 127 you 127 he 100 themselves 94 she 80 itself 62 one 32 me 19 him 17 her 9 herself 7 yourself 7 ourselves 7 myself 3 ours 3 o139 3 awn 3 's 2 himself 1 theirs 1 pseudonyms 1 oneself 1 mine 1 em 1 covid-19 1 and/ Top 50 lemmatized verbs; "What do things do?" --------------------------------------------- 29414 be 7481 have 1728 include 1601 use 1328 develop 1181 increase 1071 do 927 report 876 cause 875 find 870 associate 861 show 848 provide 847 base 841 occur 832 make 759 emerge 659 reduce 646 isolate 625 lead 613 relate 611 require 608 take 599 identify 590 need 578 see 575 give 563 follow 561 infect 553 consider 552 affect 499 become 484 estimate 477 remain 463 suggest 463 improve 451 support 447 spread 443 know 431 result 393 bear 380 live 374 indicate 371 prevent 368 involve 364 confirm 357 describe 348 present 345 continue 337 transmit Top 50 lemmatized adjectives and adverbs; "How are things described?" --------------------------------------------------------------------- 2834 not 1957 also 1898 other 1758 high 1718 more 1668 - 1647 such 1615 human 1352 african 1331 global 1216 well 1197 most 1061 low 1057 public 1045 many 1034 new 970 first 964 only 948 however 897 as 870 infectious 813 severe 804 clinical 737 large 728 international 695 economic 656 important 650 social 624 early 608 long 602 local 600 different 593 major 589 covid-19 589 available 582 common 564 effective 543 medical 542 viral 533 several 522 often 515 even 511 acute 497 less 488 respiratory 485 specific 475 poor 473 national 465 especially 454 agricultural Top 50 lemmatized superlative adjectives; "How are things described to the extreme?" ------------------------------------------------------------------------- 415 most 182 least 165 high 136 large 133 Most 114 good 62 low 55 great 44 bad 36 poor 22 late 17 big 14 common 13 strong 9 small 9 early 9 deadly 9 close 8 old 7 young 6 rich 6 near 6 Least 5 long 4 weak 4 safe 4 heavy 4 fast 4 broad 3 wealthy 3 easy 2 wide 2 simple 2 short 2 new 1 steep 1 southernmost 1 sharp 1 shallow 1 serotypes 1 r)RNA 1 innermost 1 hot 1 hard 1 fit 1 few 1 cord-325300-wawui0fd 1 clear 1 busy 1 -VHF Top 50 lemmatized superlative adverbs; "How do things do to the extreme?" ------------------------------------------------------------------------ 782 most 112 least 25 well 15 hard 12 worst 6 fast 2 oldest 2 lowest 1 highest 1 gelpest Top 50 Internet domains; "What Webbed places are alluded to in this corpus?" ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- 50 doi.org 8 www3.niaid.nih.gov 4 foodsecurityindex.eiu.com 4 data.worldbank.org 3 www.who.int 3 www.nih.gov 3 www.fao.org 3 www.cdc.gov 3 tntcat.iiasa.ac.at 3 orcid.org 3 nihroadmap.nih.gov 2 www.transparency.org 2 www.ghrpinnovation.com 2 www.cnn.com 2 www.apple.com 2 www 2 sustainabledevelopment.un.org 2 github.com 2 economicsandpeace.org 2 doi 2 data 2 creativecommons.org 1 wwwn.cdc.gov 1 www.worldometers.info 1 www.weatheronline.co.uk 1 www.weather-atlas.com 1 www.voanews.com 1 www.usminstitute.org 1 www.usaid.gov 1 www.un.org 1 www.tballiance.org 1 www.sueddeutsche.de 1 www.pqmd.org 1 www.niaid.nih.gov 1 www.nature.com 1 www.mdpi.com 1 www.mathworks.com 1 www.kff.org 1 www.iucnredlist.org 1 www.idrc.ca 1 www.globalforestwatch.org 1 www.gatesfoundation.org 1 www.g6pd.org 1 www.flowerweb.com 1 www.floraldaily.com 1 www.fda.gov 1 www.eastwestcenter.org 1 www.cbs.dtu.dk 1 www.cbd.int 1 www.cargoforwarder.eu Top 50 URLs; "What is hyperlinked from this corpus?" ---------------------------------------------------- 14 http://doi.org 12 http://doi.org/10.1101 7 http://doi.org/10.1101/2020.06.01.20118893 4 http://foodsecurityindex.eiu.com/Index 3 http://www3.niaid.nih.gov/ 3 http://doi.org/10.1101/2020.05.19.20106914 3 http://doi.org/10.1101/2020.05.17.20104687 3 http://doi.org/10.1101/2020.04.27.20082057 3 http://doi.org/10 2 http://www3.niaid.nih.gov/topics/GlobalResearch/ 2 http://www.transparency.org 2 http://www.cnn.com/2014/09/25/health/ebola-Fatu-family/index.html 2 http://www.apple.com/covid19/mobility 2 http://tntcat.iiasa.ac.at/SspDb/dsd?Action=htmlpage&page=about 2 http://nihroadmap.nih.gov/hmp/ 2 http://economicsandpeace.org/ 2 http://doi 2 http://data.worldbank.org/ 2 http://data 1 http://wwwn.cdc.gov/travel/ 1 http://www3.niaid.nih.gov/topics/GlobalResearch/default.htm 1 http://www3.niaid.nih.gov/research/topics/bacterial/ 1 http://www3.niaid.nih.gov/program/croatia).The 1 http://www/who.int/ocp 1 http://www.worldometers.info/coronavirus/ 1 http://www.who.int/tb/xdr/xdr_jan.pdf 1 http://www.who.int/emergencies/diseases/novel-coronavirus-2019/situation-reports 1 http://www.who.int/ 1 http://www.weatheronline.co.uk/ 1 http://www.weather-atlas.com 1 http://www.voanews.com/africa/kenyas-flower-producers-eye-us-market 1 http://www.usminstitute.org/spotlight 1 http://www.usaid.gov/sites/default/files/documents/1860/EU% 1 http://www.un.org/en/sections/ 1 http://www.tballiance.org/ 1 http://www.sueddeutsche.de/gesundheit/ebola-leipziger-patientgestorben-1.2172720 1 http://www.pqmd.org/cms/node/116 1 http://www.nih.gov/news/pr/jan2006/fic-03.htm 1 http://www.nih.gov/news/pr/dec2003/fic-16.htm 1 http://www.nih.gov/news/health/jun2013/od-26.htm 1 http://www.niaid.nih.gov/news/QA/Pages/EbolaVaxresultsQA.aspx 1 http://www.nature.com/ 1 http://www.mdpi.com/2414-6366/4/3/99/s1 1 http://www.mathworks.com/matlabcentral/fileexchange/76435-covid-19predictions-in-africa-using-the-sir-model 1 http://www.kff.org/globalhealth-policy/poll-finding/data-note-americans-views-on-the-u-s-role-in-global-health/ 1 http://www.iucnredlist.org/ 1 http://www.idrc.ca 1 http://www.globalforestwatch.org/ 1 http://www.ghrpinnovation.com/ProtectPatti/Eng/index 1 http://www.ghrpinnovation.com/ Top 50 email addresses; "Who are you gonna call?" ------------------------------------------------- 1 zhouz@staff.msu.ac.zw 1 webmaster@eubs.org 1 stefan.acosta@med.lu.se 1 research@f1000.com 1 r.akintayo@nhs.net 1 nkengasongj@africa-union.org 1 mdcassoc@ix.netcom.com Top 50 positive assertions; "What sentences are in the shape of noun-verb-noun?" ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 8 africa is not 6 countries do not 6 diseases are still 5 china has also 5 china is also 5 countries are now 5 disease is not 5 virus was first 4 africa do not 4 africa is less 4 africa is likely 4 africa is still 4 countries are generally 4 countries are still 4 disease is usually 4 diseases are also 4 infection were more 4 malaria is endemic 4 pandemic has also 4 systems are not 4 virus has not 4 virus is not 3 africa are also 3 africa is also 3 africa is very 3 cases are asymptomatic 3 cases reported annually 3 cases were not 3 china is increasingly 3 countries are already 3 countries are not 3 disease is also 3 disease is endemic 3 disease is now 3 disease is still 3 ebola is highly 3 infection is asymptomatic 3 infection is usually 3 infections are asymptomatic 3 infections are often 3 malaria is still 3 outbreak was first 3 pandemic are often 3 pandemic is likely 3 pandemic is not 3 patients are not 3 patients do not 3 patients have higher 3 patients is not 3 patients were not Top 50 negative assertions; "What sentences are in the shape of noun-verb-no|not-noun?" --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 2 africa was no match 2 patients is not entirely 2 people have no handwashing 2 systems are not able 1 % had no reduction 1 % had no sewage 1 africa are no longer 1 africa are not uncommon 1 africa does not currently 1 africa have no formal 1 africa is no stranger 1 africa is not always 1 africa is not flattering 1 africa is not significantly 1 area is not forthcoming 1 areas have no laboratory 1 cases are not completely 1 cases are not relevant 1 cases is not strong 1 cases were not effectively 1 china does not off 1 china has not only 1 china made no secret 1 countries are not appropriate 1 countries are not yet 1 countries have no nephrologist 1 countries have no options 1 country is not random 1 covid-19 are not yet 1 disease are not well 1 disease has no long 1 disease is no longer 1 disease is not always 1 disease is not immediately 1 disease is not infectious 1 disease is not present 1 disease was not previously 1 diseases are not particularly 1 diseases is not currently 1 ebola is no different 1 health is no longer 1 infection does not necessarily 1 malaria was not much 1 malarias are not generally 1 outbreak is not rapidly 1 outbreak was not significant 1 outbreaks are not likely 1 outbreaks are not severe 1 outbreaks were not that 1 patients are not infectious A rudimentary bibliography -------------------------- id = cord-288403-m6qe57he author = Abbas, K. M. title = Benefit-risk analysis of health benefits of routine childhood immunisation against the excess risk of SARS-CoV-2 infections during the Covid-19 pandemic in Africa date = 2020-05-26 keywords = Africa; SARS; covid-19 summary = First, we used previously reported country-specific child mortality impact estimates of childhood immunisation for diphtheria, tetanus, pertussis, hepatitis B, Haemophilus influenzae type b, pneumococcal, rotavirus, measles, meningitis A, rubella, and yellow fever (DTP3, HepB3, Hib3, PCV3, RotaC, MCV1, MCV2, MenA, RCV, YFV) to approximate the future deaths averted before completing five years of age by routine childhood vaccination during a 6-month Covid-19 risk period without catch-up campaigns. Specifically, we conducted a benefit-risk analysis of vaccine-preventable deaths averted by sustaining routine childhood immunisation in comparison to excess Covid-19 deaths from SARS-CoV-2 infections acquired by visiting routine vaccination service delivery points. The central estimates for benefit-risk ratio at the household level show the child deaths averted by continuing the routine childhood immunisation programmes (1-dose MCV1, RCV1, MenA, YFV for 9-month-old children) per excess Covid-19 death caused by SARS-CoV2 infections acquired in the vaccination service delivery points. doi = 10.1101/2020.05.19.20106278 id = cord-206145-snkdgpym author = Ackermann, Klaus title = Object Recognition for Economic Development from Daytime Satellite Imagery date = 2020-09-11 keywords = Africa; OSM; datum; image summary = Ultimately, this project aims to go beyond the use of nightlight luminosity as a proxy for economic development data and use high resolution, daytime satellite imagery to predict key infrastructure variables at national and subnational levels for less developed countries like in Africa. More broadl, we also relate growing body of literature that uses other passively collected data to measure local economic activity (e.g. Abelson, Varshney, and Sun 2014; Blumenstock, Cadamuro, and On 2015; Chen and Nordhaus 2011; Henderson, Storeygard, and Weil 2012; Hodler and Raschky 2014) , Methodologically, our paper contributes to the large remote-sensing literature that applies high-dimensional techniques to extract features from satellite imagery (e.g. Jean et al. Using satellite images from 21 African countries we show how our method can be used to generate very granular information about the stock of housing and road infrastructure for regions in the world, where reliable information about the local level of economic development is hardly available. doi = nan id = cord-321240-f6qh4fva author = Adekunle, Ibrahim Ayoade title = Modelling spatial variations of coronavirus disease (COVID-19) in Africa date = 2020-08-10 keywords = Africa; covid-19 summary = We relied on the dynamic system generalised method of moment estimation procedure and found a ~0.045 Covid19 deaths as a result of confirmed cases in Africa. We proceed to estimate the dynamic panel data system generalised method of moment (GMM) (Arellano and Bover, 1995) and impose (and test) the common factor restrictions to account for the potential endogeneity of the number of COVID-19 attributable deaths and number of confirmed cases across 52 Africa states. System GMM, renowned for glowing outcomes with persistent data under trifling assumptions (Arellano and Bover, 1995; Blundell and Bond, 1998) , was used to estimate the model of attributable COVID-19 deaths as induced by confirmed cases. This study examined the spatial density of the novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) across 52 African states and leaned empirical credence to the relationship between confirmed cases and attributable deaths. doi = 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2020.138998 id = cord-289312-3vehcvhc author = Akintayo, Richard O title = COVID-19 and African rheumatology: progress in adversity date = 2020-09-30 keywords = Africa; COVID-19 summary = The first collaborative effort was the pan-African survey 2 of the experience of rheumatologists across all five regions of the continent, done between April 21 and May 7, 2020, which provided a far-reaching understanding of the structure of rheumatology services and the degree of service disruption as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. This process, which led to increased recognition of the diversity in the structures and resources of rheumatology services available in countries within the AFLAR network, culminated in the formation of 22 statements of recom mendations for the management of rheumatic diseases in Africa in the context of COVID-19. The widespread suggestion of a role for various diseasemodifying antirheumatic drugs in the treatment of patients with COVID-19 triggered an increase in demand that resulted in a shortage of hydroxy chloroquine in many rheumatology services. African League Against Rheumatism (AFLAR) preliminary recommendations on the management of rheumatic diseases during the COVID-19 pandemic doi = 10.1016/s2665-9913(20)30347-7 id = cord-016357-s5iavz3u author = Ali, Harris title = The Social and Political Dimensions of the Ebola Response: Global Inequality, Climate Change, and Infectious Disease date = 2015-09-12 keywords = Africa; Ebola; Global; Leone; Sierra; health summary = To what extent is international assistance to fight Ebola strengthening local public health and medical capacity in a sustainable way, so that other emerging disease threats, which are accelerating with climate change, may be met successfully? This chapter considers the wide-ranging socio-political, medical, legal and environmental factors that have contributed to the rapid spread of Ebola, with particular emphasis on the politics of the global and public health response and the role of gender, social inequality, colonialism and racism as they relate to the mobilization and establishment of the public health infrastructure required to combat Ebola and other emerging diseases in times of climate change. While Ebola proved to be resistant to many conventional containment measures, the strengthening of urban public health institutions in the overall architecture of global health governance and responses is certainly a path that must be pursued in future outbreaks of this and other infectious diseases as cities grow faster and in different patterns than in the past. doi = 10.1007/978-3-319-24660-4_10 id = cord-324929-yw6uqfw6 author = Amadasun, Solomon title = Covid-19 palaver: Ending rights violations of vulnerable groups in Africa date = 2020-06-25 keywords = Africa; right summary = It notes that while governments in the region have declared restrictions on social gathering, in a bid to curtail the deadly disease, violations of human rights of vulnerable groups by State security operatives are on the increase. Since human rights reflects an integral aspect of democratic rule, how long will it have to take to become institutionalized in Africa especially given that many state officials are quick to announce the entrenchment of democracy in their respective countries to the rest of the world? Suffice to say that such rights violations are not a matter of an isolated case since deaths and injuries resulting directly from these excessive use of force have been reported in many African countries including Nigeria (Human Rights Watch, 2020; AFP, 2020; Khalid, 2020), Zimbabwe (Ndangana, 2020) , Kenya (Odhiambo, 2020) , and South Africa (Siviwe, 2020; Kunene, 2020) . South Africans urged to ''respect human rights'' amid COVID-19 pandemic doi = 10.1016/j.worlddev.2020.105054 id = cord-275334-0689o76n author = Amewu, Sena title = The Economic Costs of COVID-19 in Sub-Saharan Africa: Insights from a Simulation Exercise for Ghana date = 2020-10-30 keywords = Africa; GDP; Ghana; SAM; covid-19 summary = Social Accounting Matrix multiplier model results show that Ghana''s urban lockdown, although in force for only three weeks in April 2020, has likely caused GDP to fall by 27.9% during that period, while an additional 3.8 million Ghanaians temporarily became poor. SAM multiplier models are ideally suited to measuring short-term direct and indirect impacts of unanticipated, rapid-onset demand-or supply-side economic shocks such as those caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. Through capturing the complex linkages between various economic sectors as well as household employment and consumption patterns, SAM multiplier models can be used to simulate the direct and indirect effects of economic shocks on domestic production, value-added (GDP), employment, and household income and poverty. Social Accounting Matrix (SAM) multiplier models are ideally suited to measuring short-term direct and indirect impacts of unanticipated, rapid-onset demand-or supply-side economic shocks, such as those caused by the COVID-19 pandemic (Breisinger et al. doi = 10.1057/s41287-020-00332-6 id = cord-016826-oatjcmy0 author = Arata, Andrew A. title = Old and New Pestilences date = 2005 keywords = Africa; America; Asia; New; case; disease summary = At the time of this writing, two such pathogens are active, warranting such concern: a) cases of SARS (Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome, caused by a coronavirus) appeared in China in November, 2002, and has spread to Western and Central Europe and North America; b) a strain of Avian Influenza Virus (N5H1), first identified in Hong Kong in 1997, reemerged in 2002 in Southeast Asia. Dengue, and Dengue Hemorrhagic Fever (DHF), have spread globally, infecting vast new areas, especially urban areas where the human living conditions are substandard, but readily suited for vector breeding. A good example is the recent outbreak of West Nile encephilitis in the U.S. In 1999 and 2000, the virus was isolated from/around New York City from large numbers of dead birds (especially crows and jays): 21 human cases and two deaths were confirmed. doi = 10.1007/0-387-24103-5_3 id = cord-268177-byjyqisn author = Asiedu, Edward title = Aid to Africa’s agriculture towards building physical capital: Empirical evidence and implications for post-COVID-19 food insecurity date = 2020-10-07 keywords = Africa; ODA; SSA; agricultural; aid summary = The formation of physical capital in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) in agriculture is imperative to help the continent (1) overcome the effect of the COVID-19 pandemic on food insecurity and (2) still be on track towards achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) of "No poverty" and "Zero hunger" in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic. Using country-level data on 40 SSA countries from 1996 to 2014 and rainfall deviations as an instrument for agricultural official development assistance (ODA) in fixed-effect estimation settings, this paper examines the ''instantaneous'' impact of agricultural ODA on agricultural fixed capital formation in SSA. The paper studies the instantaneous impact of agricultural Official Development Assistance (ODA) on Agricultural Gross Fixed Capital Formation (GFCF) in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA). The choice of controls to include in this model is informed by the literature on investments across developing countries (see Bleaney and 4 One-year lag of ODA on fixed capital formation is also estimated. doi = 10.1016/j.wdp.2020.100269 id = cord-329293-jlrzu0wl author = Ayanlade, Ayansina title = COVID-19 and food security in Sub-Saharan Africa: implications of lockdown during agricultural planting seasons date = 2020-09-14 keywords = Africa; COVID-19; SSA summary = COVID-19 pandemic movement restrictions as part of the control measures put in place by countries in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) has implications on food security, as movement restrictions coincided with planting periods for most of the staple crops. This paper examines the potential impacts of COVID-19 movement restrictions on food security in SSA, focusing on the effects on planting days (season) for major staple crops, including effects through restricted access to important farm inputs. While SSA countries have very high potential for maize and rice production (Fig. 2) , the impacts of climate change [44] [45] [46] and recent locust invasion 47, 48 coupled with COVID-19 movement restrictions are likely to reduce the production potential 49 . Climate change and variability in Sub-Saharan Africa: a review of current and future trends and impacts on agriculture and food security doi = 10.1038/s41538-020-00073-0 id = cord-286548-7or373vf author = Ayebare, Rodgers title = Leveraging investments in Ebola preparedness for COVID-19 in Sub-Saharan Africa date = 2020-03-18 keywords = Africa; EVD summary = The emergence of SARS-CoV-2 in China and transmission to more than 80 territories worldwide, including nine countries in Africa, presents a delicate situation for low-resource settings. We, therefore, questioned whether capacities enhanced for EVD could be leveraged to SARS-CoV-2, a biologically distinct virus requiring a broader public health response. Unfortunately, these same countries must also plan for scenarios with concurrent outbreaks for COVID-19 and EVD and test their systems to ensure resilience against resource limitations and workforce fatigue. Although challenges remain, African countries that have been supported for EVD preparedness in ongoing and past EVD outbreaks have capacities that can be enhanced for the COVID-19 preparedness and response. This concise, well-expressed open letter addresses the highly relevant topic of commonalities in emergency responses for immunization, EVD and COVID-19 and their importance to health system strength and resilience. doi = 10.12688/aasopenres.13052.1 id = cord-024078-d34e31zd author = Baldwin-Ragaven, Laurel title = Social Dimensions of COVID-19 in South Africa: A Neglected Element of the Treatment Plan date = 2020-04-17 keywords = Africa; COVID-19; Health; South; World summary = From the social distancing necessary to reduce the speed of transmission and flatten the curve, to buying essential goods for the duration of a communal lockdown, to the suffering endured by not consuming alcohol and tobacco, to reports about the personal and collective economic costs, to the nightly release of case statistics by geographical region, to the biographies of those who have died, we have amassed a hefty repository of pandemic stories that are intended to reveal a shared humanity and promote common cause. The National Department of Health in its COVID-19 Infection Prevention and Control Guidelines for South Africa states an obvious truth about combatting the spread of the virus in our particular situation: "South Africa has a unique challenge of a large vulnerable immunocompromised population living in overcrowded conditions".(13) Over the past 26 years, prior to being hit by the SARS-CoV-2 virus, this is a frank admission that we have been sluggish in our duty to address the needs of the masses. doi = 10.18772/26180197.2020.v2nsia6 id = cord-264348-n551lttt author = Balsari, Satchit title = Climate Change, Migration, and Civil Strife date = 2020-10-13 keywords = Africa; America; Asia; Central; change; climate; migration summary = Advances in remote-sensing and surveillance capabilities that have tracked population displacements in recent years have generated strong empirical evidence that migration is a key survival mechanism in the face of extreme weather events, including floods and droughts; that most climate-related migration takes place across short distances within countries or across contiguous borders; and that households which lack migration options are inherently more vulnerable and less adaptable to the impacts of climatic variability [9] . Shifts in these arguments began to emerge in the mid-2000s, as the effects of climate change became more marked [94] , the number of resource wars increased with surges in forced migration [78] , and research and policy analysis contributed to enhanced understanding of the pivotal negative roles played by internal social fragilities and incompetent or malicious state leaders in the setting of external economic and agricultural shocks [95, 96] . doi = 10.1007/s40572-020-00291-4 id = cord-355074-u5s3uzp6 author = Bamgboye, Ebun L. title = COVID-19 Pandemic: Is Africa Different? date = 2020-11-03 keywords = Africa; COVID-19; country summary = We also collected data on variables that could explain the apparent differences in COVID-19 case numbers, mortality, and tests in Africa, compared to other parts of the world. Case numbers, mortality, number of tests performed, and demographic data were summarized and compared by continents, regions, and countries within the continent of Africa. The number of cases per million population (pmp) globally is 2,278, with South America (9549 pmp), North America (9,331) and Europe (3,842) the most affected regions, while Africa has a lower rate of 695 pmp ( Figure 2 ). Within the continent as well, countries with slightly older populations like Egypt and South Africa are also the ones with the highest numbers and the greater case fatality rates ( Figure 5 ). The prevalence of these conditions is greatest in the countries of the Maghreb and South Africa all of which have the highest case numbers and the worst CFR on the continent (Figures 6 and 7) . doi = 10.1016/j.jnma.2020.10.001 id = cord-291768-68xr2ycm author = Bankole, Taofik Olatunji title = Low incidence of COVID-19 in the West African sub-region: mitigating healthcare delivery system or a matter of time? date = 2020-10-17 keywords = Africa; West; covid-19 summary = Data including daily reports on the total reported cases of COVID-19 infection and the number of related patient deaths were extracted for Burkina Faso, Ivory Coast, Niger, Ghana, Nigeria, and Senegal over the time span covered in this study. Figures 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, and 8 show the trends in the percentage increase in the rate of reported cases of COVID-19 in Burkina Faso, Ivory Coast, Senegal, Nigeria, Ghana, Republic of Niger, West Africa, and the world, respectively. Our findings, therefore, suggest that if the relatively lower incidence of growth in the reported cases of COVID-19 in West Africa is as a result of the availability of an improved or functional healthcare delivery system, the number of deaths across covered countries and of the region as a whole should have declined gradually rather than the present gradually increasing rate of deaths that are being recorded. doi = 10.1007/s10389-020-01394-w id = cord-327139-u5rzp2h4 author = Barrett, Claire L. title = Primary healthcare practitioners and patient blood management in Africa in the time of coronavirus disease 2019: Safeguarding the blood supply date = 2020-05-21 keywords = Africa; blood summary = title: Primary healthcare practitioners and patient blood management in Africa in the time of coronavirus disease 2019: Safeguarding the blood supply Whilst commendable work has been performed in health disaster risk management in Africa, 2 and recommendations made on how to maintain the blood supply during infectious outbreaks and the COVID-19 pandemic, 3, 4 no recommendation can entirely safeguard the blood supply. By implementing principles of patient blood management, primary healthcare practitioners may play an important role in the resilience of the blood supply during the COVID-19 pandemic. By implementing principles of patient blood management, primary healthcare practitioners may play an important role in the resilience of the blood supply during the COVID-19 pandemic. If these principles are applied to all patients who receive primary healthcare during the pandemic, the blood supply may be safeguarded for those who need it most. doi = 10.4102/phcfm.v12i1.2457 id = cord-304282-om2xc4bs author = Berhan, Yifru title = Will Africa be Devastated by Covid-19 as Many Predicted? Perspective and Prospective date = 2020-05-17 keywords = Africa; Europe; SARS; covid-19 summary = Since the novel coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19 or SARS CoV-2 infection) has been declared as pandemic, several mathematicians and statisticians have developed different trajectory curves for Africa, with the assumption that the virus can have an exponential pattern of transmission. A very important argument is; had the Covid-19 transmission been as contagious as in Europe and USA, by this time, every health facility in Africa and other tropical countries could have been flooded with severely ill patients and deaths. The other side of the coin is; the overwhelming cases and deaths experienced in Europe and USA is despite the fact that they started to report Covid-19 confirmed cases almost same time or later than many of the countries in the tropical climate zone. An important observation was that, like the currently observed Covid-19 pandemic, the morbidity and mortality of the aforementioned influenza outbreaks were not that much spreading and killing outside the temperate zone, at least in Africa. doi = 10.4314/ejhs.v30i3.17 id = cord-278881-bj5ebk2s author = Binagwaho, Agnes title = Changing the COVID-19 Narrative in Africa: Using an Implementation Research Lens to Understand Successes and Plan for Challenges Ahead date = 2020-08-19 keywords = Africa; covid-19 summary = Implementation research is a tool that can be used by countries to learn how to identify and understand contextual factors impacting COVID-19 prevention and control and select evidence-based interventions and strategies known to reduce spread of the virus. Implementation research is a tool that can be used by countries to learn how to identify and understand contextual factors impacting COVID-19 prevention and control and select evidence-based interventions and strategies known to reduce spread of the virus. Implementation science methods can serve to develop knowledge at a country and regional level on how to identify, utilize, and address these and other contextual factors, and inform relevant evidence-based interventions and implementation strategies. The responses in these countries show that effective outbreak prevention is not due to the strength of the health system, but more the ability to identify and address the right contextual factors, with strong leadership, when rapidly and effectively implementing evidence-based interventions [11, 12] . doi = 10.5334/aogh.3001 id = cord-016946-p883xjq5 author = Bindenagel Šehović, Annamarie title = Introducing Ebola (EVD): An Unnecessary Surprise date = 2017-05-09 keywords = Africa; EVD; Ebola; West summary = Ebola, and further emerging infectious diseases (EIDs), are associated with a host of negative consequences in terms of life expectancy and development in affected societies, states and economies, and also pose a threat to peace and security directly and beyond the region of West Africa. September 18, 2014: Building on the precedent set in the global response to the HIV and AIDS pandemic, the United Nation''s Security Council (UNSC) passed Resolution 2177 (2014), in which it called upon immediate measures to respond to the spreading outbreak. The myriad systems'' failures arising from the world''s averted attention to the post-Ebola reality of West Africa also fails to address the concomitant shortages and medical challenges which undermine effective local and national response to an epidemic /pandemic threat. In addition, from this vantage point-that of the "end" of the Ebola pandemic in West Africa-it appears that the only epidemics /pandemics to which an international or global response will be mounted are those with resonance in the developed world-including in Germany. doi = 10.1007/978-3-319-52006-3_4 id = cord-016057-efc6msf4 author = Blumberg, Lucille title = Severe Malaria: Manifestations, diagnosis, chemotherapy, and management of severe malaria in adults date = 2005 keywords = Africa; malaria; quinine; severe summary = In a confidential inquiry into malaria deaths in an area of South Africa with limited tertiary care facilities, major contributing factors were delays in diagnosis and initiation of adequate therapy, failure to administer the correct antimalarial at the correct dosage and frequency, inadequate monitoring of severity indicators in complicated cases, and the suboptimal management of complications (6). Some patients with severe malaria may have a negative smear due to sequestration of parasitised red blood cells, and a decision to treat with antimalarial chemotherapy should be considered if the index of suspicion is very high. The choice of chemotherapy for malaria is dependent on the severity of disease, the known or suspected resistance pattern of the parasite in the area where the malaria infection was acquired, the species of parasite, and patient profile (age, pregnancy, comorbidity, allergies, and medications, including any antimalarials recently administered). Acute renal failure in patients with severe falciparum malaria doi = 10.1007/0-387-23380-6_1 id = cord-283812-ocfjj79v author = Blumberg, Lucille title = Hosting of mass gathering sporting events during the 2013–2016 Ebola virus outbreak in West Africa: experience from three African countries date = 2016-06-15 keywords = Africa; EVD; Ebola summary = • The 2013–2016 Ebola virus disease (EVD) outbreak in West Africa that resulted in over 28 637 cases and 11 315 deaths required that countries holding these events put in place public health programmes for enhanced surveillance and specific response plans for any suspected cases of EVD. 7, 8 The unprecedented Ebola virus disease (EVD) epidemic in West Africa 9 and the ongoing Zika virus (ZIKV) outbreak in South America 10, 11 were declared Public Health Emergencies of International Concern (PHEIC) by the World Health Organization (WHO) in August 2014 and February 2016, respectively. 4, 14, 15 The 2013-2016 EVD outbreak in West Africa, which resulted in over 28 637 cases and 11 315 deaths, 16 required that countries holding these events put in place public health programmes for enhanced surveillance and specific response plans for any suspected cases of viral haemorrhagic fever (VHF). doi = 10.1016/j.ijid.2016.06.011 id = cord-329964-reoa8kcw author = Botreau, Hélène title = Gender inequality and food insecurity: A dozen years after the food price crisis, rural women still bear the brunt of poverty and hunger date = 2020-09-30 keywords = Africa; Agriculture; Development; FAO; Food; Global; Security; World; woman summary = This chapter will proceed as follows: • Reflecting on how the existing challenges faced by women smallholder farmers were exacerbated by the structural causes of the food price crisis; • Examining major policy responses from governments and the private sector and analyzing their effectiveness in addressing the structural causes of the crisis; • Setting out the lessons learned from the major failures of this policy response; • Identifying key challenges and gaps in financial aid to women smallholder farmers and, more specifically, looking at the level of official development assistance (ODA) targeted to them since 2008; and • Providing policy recommendations to address all of these issues. 3.2.1.4.5 Growing role for multinational enterprise Since the food price crisis, global policy has given more space to the private sector: for instance, the G8 launched its New Alliance for Food Security and Nutrition in Africa in May 2012, with a goal of "unleashing the potential of the private sector." Developing country governments, bilateral and multilateral aid agencies, and multinational firms have all joined in promoting private investment in agriculture in the Global South. doi = 10.1016/bs.af2s.2020.09.001 id = cord-356304-lepsuyns author = Braimoh, Ademola title = Building Resilient Food Systems in Africa date = 2020-09-09 keywords = Africa; food summary = doi = 10.1016/j.oneear.2020.08.014 id = cord-355343-dtdsd8j2 author = Buonsenso, Danilo title = Social consequences of COVID-19 in a low resource setting in Sierra Leone, West Africa date = 2020-06-01 keywords = Africa summary = We drafted a survey in order to address the social impact of COVID-19 lockdown on a rural village in Sierra Leone. The survey developed by the study group and translated in the local language, distributed to the householders of the village on April 13(th) and responses collected on April 14(th), when Sierra Leone was on day 11 of lockdown. Economical and psychological consequences of the lockdown in low resources setting in rural Africa are worrying the experts of global health (El-Sadr et al. We drafted a survey in order to urgently address the social impact of COVID-19 lockdown on the rural village of Bureh Town, Sierra Leone, West Africa (figure 1) and quickly implement corrective measures. In our survey, all people but one declared a 51% to 100% reduction of weekly income with consequences in the ability to provide food for the family members, thus confirming results by other studies (Dyer 2020) . doi = 10.1016/j.ijid.2020.05.104 id = cord-260565-cdthfl5f author = Burkle, Frederick M. title = Declining Public Health Protections within Autocratic Regimes: Impact on Global Public Health Security, Infectious Disease Outbreaks, Epidemics, and Pandemics date = 2020-04-02 keywords = Africa; China; Health; Korea; SARS; chinese; public summary = While China is seeking to adhere as much as possible to the underlying norms and rules of global institutions," reemphasizing that China after SARS "perhaps [needs] to reframe health as a global public good that is available to each and every individual of the world, rather than merely as an issue of concern to nation-states." 37 In a rare openness, rarely seen before, the normally secretive Xi admitted at a meeting to coordinate the fight against the virus that China must learn from "obvious shortcomings exposed during its response." Yet given the second-guessing that always surfaces in these tragedies, "it cannot be denied that the Chinese government tried to control the narrative, another sign of irrational hubris, and as a result, the contagion was allowed to spread, contributing to equally irrational fear." A China researcher for Human Rights Watch (New York USA) noted: "authorities are as equally, if not more, concerned with silencing criticism as with containing the spread of the coronavirus. doi = 10.1017/s1049023x20000424 id = cord-322364-uo49h1ku author = Button, Kenneth title = The economics of Africa''s floriculture air-cargo supply chain date = 2020-07-06 keywords = Africa; Europe; Kenya; air; chain; flower; supply summary = Air transportation often plays a critical role when the supply-chain involves high-value, non-durable, relatively light-weight, and compact consignments such as flowers, and geographically when regions are difficult to access by other trunk modes. (2014) , using South Africa''s international trade data, shows air transportation generally has a comparative advantage when the trunk-haul movement is over relatively long distances, the perishables involved are light weight, low volume and high value items, and especially if the shelf-life of the product is short. 34 As a consequence, about 10% of the flowers are moved through Kilimanjaro International Airport which can only offer belly-hold space, with the remainder being exported through Nairobi which also has easier, if longer, surface transportation access as well as significantly more air cargo capacity, South Africa is the most mature producer of floriculture products in Africa, with an industry dating back to the 1920s and 1930s. doi = 10.1016/j.jtrangeo.2020.102789 id = cord-020203-dtqjuemu author = Calitz, Andre P. title = The Influence of Culture on Women’s IT Career Choices date = 2020-03-10 keywords = Africa; career; culture summary = A number of factors influence women''s IT career choices, such as previous programming exposure, parents, teachers and role models. The aim of this exploratory study was to determine if the factor, Culture influences women''s IT career choices in South Africa. The findings indicate that the factor Culture plays an important role when women make IT career choices as well as when females decide to remain in an IT career. Cultural factors that influence career choice include but are not limited to religion, personal relations, family responsibilities and attitudes towards networking [16] . The research problem addressed in this study is that many young South African women (female scholars) do not consider a career in IT, possibly as a result of cultural influences. An important finding in this study (Table 3) indicates that for the two ethnic groupings, African/Coloured/Indian and White, the respondents perceived the influence of culture on an IT career choice statistically differently. doi = 10.1007/978-3-030-45002-1_30 id = cord-299315-s43gw24k author = Capps, Benjamin title = One Health, Vaccines and Ebola: The Opportunities for Shared Benefits date = 2015-09-16 keywords = Africa; Ebola; Health; animal; human; vaccine summary = In this paper we propose One Health as a strategy to prevent zoonotic outbreaks as a shared goal: that human and Great Ape vaccine trials could benefit both species. Sure, while OH in this sense creates the grounds for humans to express compassion towards animals and ecosystems and to engage in novel approaches to health problems, overall it often achieves the same goals of prevention and response so far already installed in public health; so OH, in this sense, adds nothing to the ethical debate except by broadening the factors considered in any human cost-benefit analysis. Our proposal is for direct action to administer vaccinations to humans through public health and research paradigms, and additionally to animals to stave off future outbreaks in both populations. Such an approach, aimed at vaccinating animals in the first instance, would be preventative rather than reactive to an outbreak in human populations, by protecting across species and thereby creating a potential barrier to future occurrences of Ebola in the fauna. doi = 10.1007/s10806-015-9574-7 id = cord-286975-id5dn795 author = Carlitz, Ruth D. title = Life Under Lockdown: Illustrating Tradeoffs in South Africa’s Response to COVID-19 date = 2020-08-28 keywords = Africa; COVID-19; Government; South summary = Using anonymized mobile phone data, we show that South Africans in all provinces reduced their mobility substantially in response to the government''s lockdown orders. While this suggests the lockdown measures have been effective in achieving their goals, we also reflect on how the government''s response and corresponding mobility reductions interact with existing inequalities, keeping in mind the country''s status as the world''s most unequal nation. This section examines how South African citizens responded to the government''s strict containment measures, drawing on Google''s COVID-19 Community Mobility Reports. Figure 3 shows that South Africa 10 consistently "outperforms" its peers in terms of reduced mobility relative to the stringency of government response with the exception of grocery and pharmacy visits reflecting the exemption of such businesses from the lockdown order. South Africa''s strict lockdown policies --and corresponding reductions in mobility by the country''s citizens --were put in place with the aim of reducing the spread of COVID-19. doi = 10.1016/j.worlddev.2020.105168 id = cord-274580-h7sxkqw7 author = Cheng, Yang title = China''s unique role in the field of global health date = 2019-11-25 keywords = Africa; China; health summary = Consistent with its emphasis on promoting global health, China follows the norm of "building a community of shared future for mankind", which operates as a guiding principle for China when it participates in global governance, as proposed by Chinese President Xi Jinping, in keeping with the 17 United Nations (UN) Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) to be achieved by 2030. The first is to advocate the Belt and Road Initiative that seeks to share China''s experience and wisdom with the world, to promote global peace and cooperation, and to engage in joint development endeavors. To improve China-Africa Cooperation in public health, there could be a variety of ways, including regularly communicating and discussing relevant topics, short-term training (10 days) and further study (3 months) programs for the Belt and Road countries in Africa, holding seminars, and sending experts to introduce the international public health development aid and enhance capacity to participate. doi = 10.1016/j.glohj.2019.11.004 id = cord-259754-7skgb6eu author = Chowell, Gerardo title = Transmission dynamics and control of Ebola virus disease (EVD): a review date = 2014-10-10 keywords = Africa; EVD; Ebola; West summary = We also discuss the critical need to collect detailed epidemiological data in real-time during the course of an ongoing epidemic, carry out further studies to estimate the effectiveness of interventions during past outbreaks and the ongoing epidemic, and develop large-scale modeling studies to study the spread and control of viral hemorrhagic fevers in the context of the highly heterogeneous economic reality of African countries. In particular, the epidemic is unfolding in a region characterized by limited public health infrastructure including: (1) a lack of essential supplies to implement infection control measures in health care settings; (2) scarcity of health care workers and staff to manage a growing case burden and carry out essential contact tracing activities to find new cases quickly so that these can be effectively isolated [12] ; and (3) the absence of epidemiological surveillance for the timely identification of case clusters [13, 14] . doi = 10.1186/s12916-014-0196-0 id = cord-330204-guhrtz1h author = Cleaveland, Sarah title = Rabies elimination research: juxtaposing optimism, pragmatism and realism date = 2017-12-20 keywords = Africa; canine; dog; rabie summary = We demonstrate how research has generated optimism about the feasibility of achieving global targets of zero human deaths from dogmediated rabies, guided pragmatism in the design of dog vaccination strategies in LMICs, and instilled realism in the path towards global canine rabies elimination. While it is often recommended that a detailed understanding of dog ecology is needed for effective canine rabies control, the consistency of research findings generated over the past 30 years allows us to be confident in concluding that mass dog vaccination is feasible across a wide range of settings and campaigns can and should be initiated without delay. However, a focus on mass dog vaccination currently remains the most pragmatic and cost-effective approach to canine rabies control and elimination. doi = 10.1098/rspb.2017.1880 id = cord-326642-kc85pev4 author = Cohen, Adam L. title = Parainfluenza Virus Infection Among Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV)-Infected and HIV-Uninfected Children and Adults Hospitalized for Severe Acute Respiratory Illness in South Africa, 2009–2014 date = 2015-09-19 keywords = Africa; HIV; PIV summary = title: Parainfluenza Virus Infection Among Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV)-Infected and HIV-Uninfected Children and Adults Hospitalized for Severe Acute Respiratory Illness in South Africa, 2009–2014 After adjusting for age, HIV serostatus, and respiratory viral coinfection, the attributable fraction for PIV was 65.6% (95% CI [confidence interval], 47.1–77.7); PIV contributed to SARI among HIV-infected and -uninfected children <5 years of age and among individuals infected with PIV types 1 and 3. Parainfluenza virus causes substantial severe respiratory disease in South Africa among children <5 years of age, especially those that are infected with HIV. In this study, we aimed to describe the epidemiological and clinical characteristics of HIV-infected and -uninfected children and adults hospitalized with PIV-associated pneumonia in South Africa. Parainfluenza virus is associated with a significant amount of severe respiratory disease in South Africa among children <5 years of age, especially those that are infected with HIV. doi = 10.1093/ofid/ofv139 id = cord-258669-ubw6mdzi author = Colebunders, Robert title = A call for strengthened evidence on targeted, non-pharmaceutical interventions against COVID-19 for the protection of vulnerable individuals in sub-Saharan Africa date = 2020-08-27 keywords = Africa; covid-19; saharan summary = We suggest investigating the feasibility, acceptability, and efficacy of distributing COVID-19 prevention kits to households with persons at increased risk for severe COVID-19 disease. Here, we call for the generation and strengthening of evidence to guide non-pharmaceutical interventions for COVID-19, which we illustrate with a practical proposal for assessing the impact of targeted protection of at-risk individuals in settings in sub-Saharan Africa. Although the early implementation of lockdown measures for COVID-19 control may have contributed to the (initially) low mortality observed in most sub-Saharan Africa countries, the collateral damage resulting from this strategy is becoming increasingly apparent. We therefore propose to complement the extant containment measures in sub-Saharan Africa with more targeted protection strategies, aiming at protecting people at risk of severe COVID-19 disease. One strategy could be to distribute COVID-19 prevention kits to households with persons at increased risk for severe COVID-19 disease. doi = 10.1016/j.ijid.2020.08.060 id = cord-022161-quns9b84 author = Cui, Shunji title = China in the Fight Against the Ebola Crisis: Human Security Perspectives date = 2018-09-02 keywords = Africa; China; Ebola; Health; Security; chinese summary = The crisis turned the global securitization of health issues into unprecedented levels, at the same time, aligned closely with human security frameworks and thus has significant impacts on national foreign and aid policies. After the August/September 2014 announcement by the WHO that Ebola was a ''public health emergency of international concern'' and the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) declaration that Ebola was a ''threat to international peace and security,'' many countries as well as international organizations, non-governmental organizations, companies and individuals participated in the fight against this unprecedented challenge to humanity. Of course, in the process of engaging in the global effort to fight Ebola, China did cooperate with many countries and international and regional organizations by providing financial support to the UN, the WHO and the AU, and assisting them in playing leading and coordinating roles. doi = 10.1007/978-3-319-95240-6_8 id = cord-017490-p8mbiq2z author = Dawson, Simon title = Bushmeat date = 2017-07-11 keywords = Africa; Teinaz; bushmeat summary = However, over the turn of the last century, a sharp increase in widespread human populations, clusters of extreme poverty in areas surrounded by wildlife, and highly profitable trade revenues have exploited bushmeat at an unprecedented level. This case study will focus on the ethical demand for bushmeat, focusing on the UK and European markets, and zoonotic diseases that have caused a major threat to the existence of human and animals alike. Table 12 .1 presents zoonotic diseases originated from wild animals, which have spread to humans through zoonosis. 2 highlights examples of highly resistant diseases originated from wild animals, including those associated with bushmeat. In the radio report, a senior environmental health officer stated "we have found it [bushmeat] on sale to some extent or another in almost every West African shop in the area [Hackney] . During the report, Dr. Yunes Teinaz stated "this is providing meat in to the human food chain which can carry infectious diseases. doi = 10.1007/978-3-319-64738-8_12 id = cord-003838-u8zjzqbr author = Demos, Terrence C. title = Molecular phylogenetics of the African horseshoe bats (Chiroptera: Rhinolophidae): expanded geographic and taxonomic sampling of the Afrotropics date = 2019-08-22 keywords = Africa; Fig; Rhinolophus; specie; tree summary = CONCLUSIONS: Multiple well-supported and deeply divergent lineages were resolved in each of the six African Rhinolophus species groups analyzed, suggesting as many as 12 undescribed cryptic species; these include several instances of sympatry among close relatives. The species limits of morphologically conservative or cryptic lineages of bats have been greatly clarified by an integrative approach using multi-locus genetic delimitation methods as a starting point for identifying candidate species and then testing them using additional, corroborative data from behavioral, morphological, distributional, and/or ecological information ( [4] , cf. Maximum likelihood (ML) and Bayesian inference (BI) inferred trees with similar topologies; the ML gene tree is shown for the 351 sequence cyt-b alignment of 74 Rhinolophus species/clades ( Fig. 3 ; see also Additional file 4 for the phylogeny with all 351 terminals labeled). denti/ simulator; and finally 8 of 8 lineages in the fumigatus group, including three possibly new species as well as support for the recent recognition of R. doi = 10.1186/s12862-019-1485-1 id = cord-002885-dhdyxnr3 author = Den Boon, Saskia title = Incorporating health workers’ perspectives into a WHO guideline on personal protective equipment developed during an Ebola virus disease outbreak date = 2018-03-09 keywords = Africa; EVD; PPE; health summary = The objective of this study was to understand frontline physicians'' and nurses'' perspectives about personal protective equipment (PPE) use during the 2014-2016 EVD outbreak in West Africa and to incorporate these findings into the development process of a WHO rapid advice guideline. The specific objectives were to understand and describe frontline physician and nurses'' perspectives about PPE use, while providing direct care for EVD patients in the unprecedented conditions of the 2014-2016 EVD outbreak in West Africa and to incorporate these findings into the rapid advice guideline development process. The findings of the survey were presented at the guideline development meeting and incorporated into evidence-to-decision tables (Supplementary File 2) to inform the formulation of recommendations for PPE components in the context of an EVD outbreak. We developed the study protocol, obtained WHO ethics approval, contacted the participants, delivered the survey, analysed the data, and presented the findings as part of the evidence-to-decision tables at the expert panel meeting where the recommendations were formulated in a period of 8 weeks. doi = 10.12688/f1000research.12922.2 id = cord-016403-id6fjgye author = Djikeng, Appolinaire title = Implications of Human Microbiome Research for the Developing World date = 2011-10-11 keywords = Africa; disease; human; microbiome summary = New high-throughput sequencing and data analysis approaches (Costello et al., 2009; Turnbaugh et al., 2009) , along with novel diversity screens and even more intrinsic single cell approaches to isolating new species (Lasken, 2009) , have presented the sciences with a unique opportunity to investigate and interrogate the microorganisms that are associated with the human body, all at a greater depth than previously appreciated. Global human microbiome studies using metagenomics analysis of known and unknown microorganisms provide unique but powerful opportunities to uncover the near-complete composition of the microbial content of an individual or a population at any given time, thus setting the stage for a comprehensive inventory of the genetic characteristics of potential human pathogens. Another example of the potential to come from using human metagenomic research and approaches in the developing world relates to another emerging infectious pathogen that causes Leptospirosis. doi = 10.1007/978-1-4419-7089-3_16 id = cord-286139-27domp9w author = Dramé, Moustapha title = Coping with the COVID-19 crisis in Sub-Saharan Africa: let us not leave older people behind! date = 2020-04-22 keywords = Africa summary = title: Coping with the COVID-19 crisis in Sub-Saharan Africa: let us not leave older people behind! At present, certain colleagues affirm that Africa is more prepared than ever to face the COVID-19 pandemic, thanks to the lessons they have learned from epidemics such as Ebola [4] . Indeed, in the case of the current COVID-19 crisis, in Sub-Saharan Africa, no specific measures have been taken to protect elders, as there have been in high-income countries. If the epidemic continues along current trajectories, African countries are or will be among the last to be affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. Yet they are likely to draw but little benefit from the experience acquired in western countries, notably because the measures applied in high-income countries are not appropriate solutions for Sub-Saharan Africa. Novel coronavirus (COVID-19) epidemic: what are the risks for older patients? doi = 10.1007/s41999-020-00324-z id = cord-011903-zqt6vu6d author = Duby, Zoe title = “As a Young Pregnant Girl… The Challenges You Face”: Exploring the Intersection Between Mental Health and Sexual and Reproductive Health Amongst Adolescent Girls and Young Women in South Africa date = 2020-07-18 keywords = AGYW; Africa; HIV; SRH; South summary = Poor mental health, including depressive disorders and stress, contributes significantly to the burden of disease in South Africa, and other parts of sub-Saharan Africa, and is also associated with negative sexual and reproductive health (SRH) outcomes for women, such as ''unintended'' or early pregnancy, and increased risk behaviours for HIV [1] [2] [3] . In the accounts of AGYW, poor mental health, including depression and suicidal risk were linked to sexual/ romantic relationship challenges, early pregnancy and child-bearing, parenting responsibilities, experiences of violence/abuse, HIV status, and lack of emotional support. Building on previous research that has found associations between depressive symptoms and psychological distress related to pregnancy, combined with a lack of social support amongst South African women [16] , our findings provide rich descriptive data on the lived reality of the interconnected psychosocial risks including stress, emotional isolation, feelings of depression and suicidal ideation, with ''unintended'' pregnancy and HIV that AGYW in South Africa face, from their own perspectives. doi = 10.1007/s10461-020-02974-3 id = cord-347778-b2ufs25y author = Ebigbo, Alanna title = Impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on gastrointestinal endoscopy in Africa date = 2020-08-07 keywords = Africa; covid-19 summary = Methods A web-based survey was conducted by the International Working Group of the European Society for Gastrointestinal Endoscopy and the World Endoscopy Organization to determine the impact and effects the COVID-19 pandemic has had on endoscopists in African countries. As with all other fields of medical practice, the COVID-19 pandemic has impacted gastrointestinal endoscopy, especially with regards to triage and prioritization of patients and procedures, cleaning and disinfection of equipment as well as protection of health care workers (HCW) [11, 12] . To acquire information on the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic in SSA including changes in endoscopic activity, availability of PPE, use of pre-endoscopic screening measures, and capacity of endoscopy units in general, a web-based survey with 29 questions (Appendix 1) was distributed to 86 gastroenterology and endoscopy centres across northern and central Africa and SSA. doi = 10.1055/a-1210-4274 id = cord-009934-f4moopcc author = Eggermont, Hilde title = ORIGINAL ARTICLE: Taxonomy and diversity of Afroalpine Chironomidae (Insecta: Diptera) on Mount Kenya and the Rwenzori Mountains, East Africa date = 2006-09-18 keywords = Africa; Chironomidae; Diptera; Eggermont; Kenya; Mount; Rwenzori; Verschuren summary = Results were compared with similar faunal data from 68 East African lakes at low and middle elevation (750–2760 m), and with literature records of Chironomidae species distribution in sub‐Saharan Africa, the Palaearctic region and elsewhere. Saether (1990) recognized four African species of Limnophyes, of which Limnophyes bubo Saether, Limnophyes lobiscus Saether and Limnophyes minimus (Meigen) appear to be restricted to high-elevation sites in East Africa (including the Rwenzori and Mount Kenya; Saether, 1990) , whereas Limnophyes natalensis (Kieffer) is also widely distributed in lowland lakes and streams throughout eastern and southern Africa. Through study of recent death assemblages of larval remains in surface sediments, we found that the chironomid fauna of high-elevation (>3000 m a.s.l.) lakes and tarns on glaciated mountains of equatorial East Africa is diverse in species and highly distinct from that of low-and mid-elevation African lakes. doi = 10.1111/j.1365-2699.2006.01590.x id = cord-303933-vb3hygtv author = Elder, Laurent title = Past, present and future: experiences and lessons from telehealth projects date = 2007-12-04 keywords = Africa; health; project summary = Information communications technology has been a focus of the work of the International Development Research Centre (IDRC) since 1970, when this organization was formed in Canada with the goal of helping to improve the health of people in developing countries (http://www.idrc.ca). These efforts were quite typical of activities that focused on health and on information and communica-tions technology (ICT) at the time: overly ambitious, lacking in adequate capacity and planning, but spurred by the drive and determination of project proponents, who went on to use their experiences to become champions of telehealth in their countries. In Indonesia, the Development of ICT-based Telemedicine System for Primary Community Health Care in Indonesia project used existing Internet technology to enhance PC-based medical stations and pilot-tested a telemedicine application. However, the fast pace of innovation in both ICTs and health research means that there is also a need to develop, implement and evaluate new applications, particularly in the area of demographic surveillance of disease incidence and medical compliance, using new technologies such as mobile phones. doi = nan id = cord-268716-lbxmteyn author = Erokhin, Vasilii title = Impacts of COVID-19 on Trade and Economic Aspects of Food Security: Evidence from 45 Developing Countries date = 2020-08-10 keywords = ARDL; Africa; COVID-19; Food; Security summary = The consecutive application of the autoregressive distributed lag method, Yamamoto''s causality test, and variance decomposition analysis allowed the authors to find the food insecurity effects of COVID-19 to be more perceptible in upper-middle-income economies than in the least developed countries. According to the FAO [2] , out of 65 developing economies and LDCs where recent adverse impacts of the economic downturn due to the COVID-19 pandemic on food security have been strongest, 52 countries rely heavily on agricultural imports. (3) revealing the impacts of food inflation and currency exchange volatilities amid the global health crisis on economic access to food in domestic markets; and (4) detailing the analysis of above-mentioned health, food security, trade, and economic parameters across an array of developing economies and LDCs. The approach employed in this study is to assess the relationships between the food security parameter, on one side, and health and macroeconomic variables that affect availability and access pillars of food security, on the other. doi = 10.3390/ijerph17165775 id = cord-334763-3dfob3wi author = Estrada, Alejandro title = Current and future trends in socio-economic, demographic and governance factors affecting global primate conservation date = 2020-08-21 keywords = Africa; Asia; Estrada; Fig; Madagascar; World; primate summary = doi = 10.7717/peerj.9816 id = cord-327106-drwvzw5l author = Eyawo, Oghenowede title = Rethinking the Central Role of Equity in the Global Governance of Pandemic Response date = 2020-08-25 keywords = Africa; COVID-19; health summary = The global health governance of pandemic preparedness and response needs to move further away from the advocacy of a one-size-fits-all approach that tends to prioritize the interests of high-income countries towards a context-sensitive approach that gives equity a central role in guiding our pandemic preparedness and response strategies. On the other hand, we find the failure of commission-high-income countries (HICs) battle to buy out ventilators, personal protective equipment, and diagnostic tests on the global market, which freezes out any real possibility of LMICs getting these resources. The global health governance response to the COVID-19 pandemic has been largely modelled from the perspective of HICs without due consideration for how and whether it provides a feasible parallel strategy for LMICs. A predominant reliance on extemporaneous prevention measures, such as stay at home orders, frequent handwashing, long-term social distancing, and business closures cannot be easily or effectively translated into the LMIC context without major political and economic changes. doi = 10.1007/s11673-020-10001-2 id = cord-291234-rozpps6v author = Faye, C. title = A DISSYMMETRY IN THE FIGURES RELATED TO THE COVID-19 PANDEMIC IN THE WORLD: WHAT FACTORS EXPLAIN THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN AFRICA AND THE REST OF THE WORLD? date = 2020-05-22 keywords = Africa; country; covid-19; pandemic summary = The method was applied to 60 countries (30 in Africa and 30 in other continents) and 6 variables which are: the Covid-19 situation on Monday 13 April 2020 (confirmed cases and reported deaths), the mean annual temperature and the structure of the proportion (0 to 14 years, 15 to 64 years and over 65 years). The opposing relationship between the Covid-19 pandemic (confirmed cases and reported deaths) and the proportion of elderly (and/or young) is apparent, suggesting that generally the younger a country''s population is (and therefore the fewer vulnerable people), the less likely it is to be affected by the Coronavirus pandemic, and vice versa. Axis 2, with 23.24% variance, is positively related, strongly with the number of confirmed Covid-19 cases, the number of reported deaths and the proportion of elderly in the total population, weakly with the average annual temperature of the country and the proportion of young people in the total population of the country. doi = 10.1101/2020.05.17.20104687 id = cord-306741-3ibprszo author = Fitchett, Jennifer M title = Exploring public awareness of the current and future malaria risk zones in South Africa under climate change: a pilot study date = 2020-11-11 keywords = Africa; South; malaria; risk summary = The National Guidelines for the Prevention of Malaria in South Africa comprise five key components which are summarized as the "ABC" of malaria prevention, namely Awareness and Assessment of malaria risk, avoidance of mosquito Bites, Compliance with Chemoprophylaxis when indicated, early Detection of malaria disease, and Effective treatment (NDOH 2018a; Baker 2018; Schmidt 2019a, b) . According to the latest malaria risk map produced by the South African National Department of Health in December 2018, areas of moderate risk (where chemoprophylaxis is indicated for all travellers from September to May) are concentrated along the border between South Africa and Mozambique and Zimbabwe (Fig. 1) . Topics included respondents'' demographics and travel histories, awareness and perception of malaria distribution and risk in Southern Africa, understanding of climate change, and attitudes towards malaria prophylaxis-both in terms of bite prevention and chemoprophylaxis. Overall, the composite map created from all 28 usable maps reveals a fairly high degree of awareness among respondents regarding the general location of malaria risk areas in South Africa (Fig. 2) . doi = 10.1007/s00484-020-02042-4 id = cord-011023-eahx37cy author = Fleischack, Anne title = The Conundrums of Counselling Women in Violent Intimate Partner Relationships in South Africa: Implications for Practice date = 2019-06-08 keywords = Africa; IPV; South; counsellor; woman summary = Local and international research has shown that counselling for women who have experienced relationships characterised by intimate partner violence (IPV) can have many positive effects. These include: viewing IPV relationships as developing in stages, and modelling therapy based on this perspective; a client-centred approach in which the counsellor facilitates the client in choosing solutions and actions that are compatible and appropriate for themselves (the client) (McHattie 2011); and a competency framework that focuses on counselling skills, specialist knowledge and specific personal characteristics needed for working with this client group (Roddy and Gabriel 2019) . Given the high level of gender-based violence in many countries (including South Africa, the site of this study), and that counsellors tend to be women, how the counsellors experience the counselling encounter in regard to IPV is an important aspect of understanding such counselling. The micro-narratives the counsellors related of their experiences of counselling women in IPV relationships, and the associated subject positions, point to a number of conundrums or double binds. doi = 10.1007/s10447-019-09384-8 id = cord-016322-dyjpfvvf author = Gardner, Anthony Luzzatto title = Foreign Aid and Humanitarian Assistance date = 2019-12-10 keywords = Africa; Commission; Ebola; European; States; United summary = We are committed to develop and implement an effective global early warning system and response network for new and re-emerging communicable diseases such as AIDS and the Ebola virus, and to increase training and professional exchanges in this area. And in December the US Congress overwhelmingly supported legislation providing $5.4 billion in emergency funding for the CDC and other health services, the State Department, and USAID; much of this funding was earmarked for the prevention, detection, and response to the Ebola crisis in West Africa, as well for efforts to assist in the region''s recovery. Ensuring that all people in sub-Saharan Africa have access to electricity by 2030, one of the UN''s Sustainable Development Goals, will require a major effort by the region''s governments and the international community, above all the United States and the European Union. doi = 10.1007/978-3-030-29966-8_12 id = cord-301225-h178zpb3 author = Gautret, Philippe title = Fever in Returned Travelers date = 2018-11-26 keywords = Africa; dengue; fever; infection; traveler summary = 5, 9, 10 While, overall, malaria is the most common specific infection causing systemic febrile illness, dengue fever, mononucleosis, rickettsial infections, and enteric fever are also important infections. More than a third of malaria-infected travelers in a study from Israel and the United States had illness that developed >2 months after return from endemic areas. 28 In the GeoSentinel database, confirmed or probable dengue fever was the most common specific diagnosis in patients with febrile systemic illness who had traveled to tropical and subtropical areas in the Caribbean, South America, South Central and Southeast Asia. 52 In most cases the disease is acquired in Africa (not only sub-Saharan); however, in the last decade an seek medical care suggested that 2% of imported fevers are caused by rickettsioses and that 20% of these patients are hospitalized. doi = 10.1016/b978-0-323-54696-6.00056-2 id = cord-017667-6k4vw25d author = Georgiev, Vassil St. title = NIAID International Research Programs: Global Impact date = 2009 keywords = Africa; NIAID summary = NIAID supports HIV/AIDS research in all of these 26 countries, with most projects conducted in areas with the highest incidence of infection and disease, namely Botswana, Kenya, Malawi, Rwanda, South Africa, Zambia, and Zimbabwe. Malaria remains a major threat, and NIAID conducts clinical, epidemiologic, drug, and vaccine research in east African countries such as Kenya, Malawi, Tanzania, and Uganda, and in Mali, Cameroon, Ghana, and The Gambia in central and West Africa. This study was successfully completed in 2005 and has provided data to show that serious infections and deaths can be prevented by the incorporation of a pneumococcal conjugate vaccine into the local expanded program on immunization (EPI) (http://www3.niaid.nih.gov/research/topics/bacterial/ clinical/GambiaPneumococcalVaccineTrial.htm). There are opportunities for further research in TB (especially in the context of HIV/AIDS) and vector-borne diseases, especially Rift Valley fever (RVF), a serious zoonosis (a disease that primarily affects animals, but occasionally causes disease in humans) (http://www3.niaid.nih.gov/topics/GlobalResearch/ Africa/Kenya.htm). doi = 10.1007/978-1-60327-297-1_2 id = cord-305327-hayhbs5u author = Gonzalez, Jean-Paul title = Global Spread of Hemorrhagic Fever Viruses: Predicting Pandemics date = 2017-09-19 keywords = Africa; Ebola; disease; epidemic; host; pandemic; risk; virus summary = Other pathogens that are remarkable for their epidemic expansions include the arenavirus hemorrhagic fevers and hantavirus diseases carried by rodents over great geographic distances and the arthropod-borne viruses (West Nile, chikungunya and Zika) enabled by ecology and vector adaptations. Emergence from a sporadic case to an outbreak, to an epidemic, and ultimately to a pandemic depends upon effective transmission among nonimmune hosts, host availability (density), characteristics of the vector (natural or human made) that would enable it to circumvent distances, and the pathogen infectiousness. Although MARV expansion appears to be limited to a few countries in Africa, the recent emergence (estimated at a few decades ago) of a second human pathogenic marburgvirus known as Ravn virus, and the widely distributed Old World rousette fruit bats (Rousettus spp.) serving as reservoir for both viruses [45] , are two factors that favor pandemic risk. doi = 10.1007/978-1-4939-6981-4_1 id = cord-287247-vv0zc0gd author = Gutman, Julie R. title = Malaria and Parasitic Neglected Tropical Diseases: Potential Syndemics with COVID-19? date = 2020-06-01 keywords = Africa; COVID-19; SARS; malaria summary = With many LMICs implementing movement restrictions or ordering their populations to stay at home to limit SARS-CoV-2 transmission, the threat to essential health services is likely to be immediate, causing delays to diagnosis and treatment for other diseases, including malaria and NTDs. During the Ebola epidemic in West Africa, there were substantial reductions in all-cause outpatient visits and patients treated with antimalarial drugs 2 ; modeling the potential for similar disruptions in malaria control due to COVID-19 suggests that there could be up to an estimated 769,000 deaths due to malaria in 2020 (approximately double the number seen in 2018), mostly among children younger than 5 years. 58 Thus, coinfection with parasitic NTDs could result in altered risks and severity of clinical manifestations of SARS-CoV-2 infection, with the potential for decreased development of immunity with increased viral loads. doi = 10.4269/ajtmh.20-0516 id = cord-279401-eehb5yny author = Haffejee, Sadiyya title = ‘When will I be free’: Lessons of COVID-19 for Child Protection in South Africa date = 2020-09-04 keywords = Africa; COVID-19; CYCC; South; child summary = Children residing at a child and youth care centre in Gauteng, South Africa (herewith referred to as CYCC X) were invited to participate in the study. In South Africa, the social and economic disruptions caused by the pandemic and associated lockdown, combined with long-term structural social, economic and political inequality, and failures within government has impacted on service delivery, access to resources and availability of supportive networks, the absence of which increases vulnerability and heightens levels of anxiety and stress in children. In this exploratory study we aimed to address the research question ''What can the experiences and perspectives of South African children in care during lockdown tell us about the themes we should focus on to improve care moving forward?'' As the findings emerged, we noted that there were a number of domains of concern that reflect the social ecologies in which our participants operated. doi = 10.1016/j.chiabu.2020.104715 id = cord-296888-z5x6zkht author = Hailay, Abrha title = The burden, admission, and outcomes of COVID-19 among asthmatic patients in Africa: protocol for a systematic review and meta-analysis date = 2020-09-04 keywords = Africa; COVID-19; study summary = title: The burden, admission, and outcomes of COVID-19 among asthmatic patients in Africa: protocol for a systematic review and meta-analysis This research protocol will, therefore, be driven to conduct systematic review and meta-analysis of the Coronavirus Disease in 2019 burden, admission and outcome among Asthmatic patients in Africa. This research protocol will, therefore, be driven to conduct systematic review and meta-analysis of the COVID-19 burden, admission and outcome among asthmatic patients in Africa. Data extraction was including information: first author, publishing month, country and/or region, signs and symptoms, complications, diagnostic criteria, comorbidity, COVID-19, study Upon introduction pick. If there will be heterogeneity between studies, we will use a meta-analysis of random-effects [24] to estimate the aggregate pooled burden, admission and outcome of COVID-19 among asthmatic patients in Africa. This systematic review and meta-analysis will be expected to quantify the burden, admission and outcome of COVID-19 among asthmatic patients in Africa. doi = 10.1186/s40733-020-00061-x id = cord-076081-ue9azoyf author = Hardon, Anita title = Alternative medicines for AIDS in resource-poor settings: Insights from exploratory anthropological studies in Asia and Africa date = 2008-07-10 keywords = AIDS; Africa; HIV summary = The AIDSImpact session concluded that more interdisciplinary research is needed on the experience of people living with HIV/AIDS with these alternative medicines, and on the ways in which these products interact (or not) with anti-retroviral therapy at pharmacological as well as psychosocial levels. Social scientists first noted this trend in the late 1980s: Charles Leslie [3] for example has shown how, in India, in response to an increased authority of biomedicine and the globalisation of health markets, Unani and Ayurvedic medicine production changed; and Afdhal and Welsch [4] described the rise of ''modern'' jamu in Indonesia. A case study from Uganda showed how health workers operating an anti-retroviral treatment program adopted a locally available traditional ointment as an alternative medication for skins problems of people living with HIV and AIDS. doi = 10.1186/1746-4269-4-16 id = cord-347261-d6012uem author = Hatefi, Shahrokh title = COVID-19 in South Africa: lockdown strategy and its effects on public health and other contagious diseases date = 2020-06-19 keywords = Africa summary = title: COVID-19 in South Africa: lockdown strategy and its effects on public health and other contagious diseases African countries, with previous experiences on the outbreaks of other infectious disease and pandemic situations, including HIV, Malaria, and Ebola, have limited financial, physical, and medical resources. Although lockdown strategies across many countries have been effective for decreasing the spread rate of contagious viruses, there have been other negative impacts reported globally; these concerns become worse in countries across Africa, including South Africa. In South Africa, the government announced a national-wide lockdown to manage the pandemic situation and decrease the spread rate of the COVID-19 outbreak. With regard to the current global situation during the covid-19 pandemic, different concerns in the public health system of South African people have been raised. Second, the lockdown strategy, social distancing rules, and community containment measures for COVID-19 have negatively impacted the diagnosing and treatment of other contagious diseases, including HIV and Malaria [5, 6] . doi = 10.1016/j.puhe.2020.06.033 id = cord-255927-0tp4ig4o author = Hayman, David T S title = African Primates: Likely Victims, Not Reservoirs, of Ebolaviruses date = 2019-11-15 keywords = Africa; Ebola summary = This experimental work is supported by field data from related Marburg viruses, first identified after African monkeys infected people in Europe [24] , which apparently persist within large colonies of cave-dwelling Egyptian fruit bats, and RESTV in Asian bats. Thus, together the evidence for bats being the true reservoir host for EVD causing viruses is convincing, but relies on serological evidence of infection rather than virus detection, and the role of nonhuman primates as reservoirs remains uncertain. In other systems, archived sample banks have helped identify Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus-seropositive camels in East Africa over 11-year (Kenya) and 30-year (Sudan and Somalia) periods, suggesting extensive virus circulation in camels prior to the first human outbreaks [35] [36] [37] [38] . All of these studies are limited by data, but Ayouba et al''s comprehensive study supports the assumption that bats, not primates, are likely reservoir hosts and that nonhuman primates may be viewed as both sentinels for human infection and victims of EVD [9, 15, 33, 51] . doi = 10.1093/infdis/jiz007 id = cord-296816-mzd1499c author = Huang, Yanzhong title = China''s Response to the 2014 Ebola Outbreak in West Africa date = 2017-01-30 keywords = Africa; China; Ebola; chinese summary = As Beijing becomes more sensitive to disease outbreaks overseas and as the scope of its humanitarian engagement grows and diversifies, the space for China''s cooperation with international actors over global health governance is expected to further expand. [4] While visiting West Africa in August 2015, Chinese foreign minister Wang Yi noted that China in carrying out its largest ever health aid program in history created multiple "firsts": the Chinese President was the first head of state to commit explicitly to answering the call for help by three Western African countries; China used large chartered airplanes to ship the first batch of badly needed anti-epidemic supplies; China for the first time deployed a whole unit of epidemic prevention forces and military medical staff abroad; China built a Biosafety Level 3 (BSL-3) lab overseas, and set up an infectious disease medical center in another country for the first time. doi = 10.1002/gch2.201600001 id = cord-323913-v32c2vda author = Istúriz, Raul E. title = Global Distribution of Infectious Diseases Requiring Intensive Care date = 2006-07-31 keywords = Africa; America; FLF; States; United; patient summary = Although children are among the groups most at risk for developing influenza and its complications and are more likely to spread the infection to others, complications of seasonal influenza occur most frequently among patients older than 60 years and those with chronic comorbidities including diseases of the cardiovascular or pulmonary system, diabetes mellitus, hemoglobinopathies, renal insufficiency, and immunosuppression. Generalized tetanus, a protein-toxin mediated neurologic disorder caused by Clostridium tetani, an obligate anaerobic, motile gram-positive rod with terminal spores has traditionally been, and continues to represent despite effective vaccine a common cause of intensive care admissions that are long and are associated with high mortality [33] and cost. The risk of developing clinical tetanus after an acute puncture or laceration is higher in patients older than 60 years, a reflection of waning immunity, with a significant proportion of cases occurring in women [35] , and a low mortality rate. doi = 10.1016/j.ccc.2006.03.004 id = cord-350380-4yardtss author = Jephcott, Freya L. title = Facility-based surveillance for emerging infectious diseases; diagnostic practices in rural West African hospital settings: observations from Ghana date = 2017-07-19 keywords = Africa; Health; diagnosis summary = title: Facility-based surveillance for emerging infectious diseases; diagnostic practices in rural West African hospital settings: observations from Ghana The aim of this study was to better understand the effectiveness of Integrated Disease Surveillance and Response (IDSR) facility-based surveillance in detecting newly emerging infectious diseases (EIDs) in rural West African settings. While participants routinely used hospital treatment when confronted with enduring or severe illness, the diagnostic process within clinical settings meant that an unusual diagnosis, such as an EID, was unlikely to be considered. Facility-based surveillance is unlikely to be effective in detecting EIDs due to a combination of clinical care practices and the time constraints associated with individual episodes of illness, particularly in the resource-limited settings of rural West Africa, where febrile illness due to malaria is common and specific diagnostic assays are largely unavailable. doi = 10.1098/rstb.2016.0544 id = cord-278011-15t6gyy7 author = John, Nitin Ashok title = Implications of COVID-19 infections in sickle cell disease date = 2020-06-09 keywords = Africa; SCD summary = Nearly 2/3(rd) of the global burden of sickle cell disease (SCD) is found to be in sub-Saharan Africa. There is increased mortality risk in sickle cell disease patients in Africa due to associated complications such as acute chest syndrome, asthma, pulmonary emboli and sepsis. Around 2/3 rd of the sickle cell disease patients of the global burden reside in sub-Saharan Africa [1] . The additional financial burden of supporting health care management system in tackling COVID-19 impact at the same time preventing mortality rate of COVID-19 deaths is a matter of great concern in Africa [3] . They found that though morbidity and mortality were higher in children with sickle cell disease, these were reduced by early diagnosis and supportive care management. COVID-19 infections in SCD can also increase morbidity and mortality risk in these patients [8, 9] . Sickle cell disease in Africa: a neglected cause of early childhood mortality COVID-19 infection in patients with sickle cell disease doi = 10.11604/pamj.2020.36.81.23776 id = cord-024081-19wk56an author = Kalla, Ismail S. title = COVID-19: The Concept of Herd Immunity – Is It A Strategy for South Africa? date = 2020-04-17 keywords = Africa; COVID-19 summary = The current outbreak of the novel coronavirus SARS-CoV-2 (COVID-19) was declared a global health emergency by the World Health Organisation (WHO) in January 2020, while the United Nations has described this pandemic as the worst crisis that humanity has faced since the World War II.(1) Our President declared a state of disaster in South Africa on 26 March 2020, enforcing a military-supported national lockdown. The concept of herd immunity was introduced with the widespread use of vaccines to protect against common, but severely debilitating illnesses, such as smallpox and polio, which are spread by human contact and for which humans, are a major reservoir of these viruses. Using mathematical modelling, they postulated a strategy with the aim of achieving herd immunity by allowing the disease to run rampant through their population. However, there are preliminary reports that countries with the widespread use of the BCG vaccine seem to have a lower morbidity and mortality from COVID-19, thus potentially protecting our population. doi = 10.18772/26180197.2020.v2nsia7 id = cord-314489-e5r5s5ee author = Katsidzira, Leolin title = The SARS-CoV-2 epidemic in Zimbabwe: Quo vadis? date = 2020-05-11 keywords = Africa; SARS summary = The trajectory, and impact of the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic in sub-Saharan Africa is unclear, but it is seemingly varied between different countries, with most reporting low numbers. Using Zimbabwe as an example, we argue that the magnitude, and impact of the epidemic in most of sub-Saharan Africa is likely to be smaller than anticipated, with a reduced morbidity and mortality. This case strongly influenced the subsequent response to COVID-19 by both the government, and the private healthcare industry in Zimbabwe, and played a pivotal role in raising public awareness. There is a link between the volume of international flights, and the magnitude of the SARS-CoV-2 epidemic in sub-Saharan Africa [7, 11] . A potential source of higher than anticipated mortality from COVID-19 disease in sub-Saharan Africa is the high burden of HIV infection [5] . Moreover, considerable progress has It remains unclear whether complete lockdowns are the most ideal method to limit the spread of SARS-CoV-2 in sub-Saharan Africa [22] . doi = 10.1093/cid/ciaa552 id = cord-003657-asclastg author = Kenmoe, Sebastien title = Epidemiology of respiratory viral infections in people with acute respiratory tract infections in Africa: the VARIAFRICA systematic review and meta-analysis protocol date = 2019-05-20 keywords = ARTI; Africa summary = title: Epidemiology of respiratory viral infections in people with acute respiratory tract infections in Africa: the VARIAFRICA systematic review and meta-analysis protocol We will conduct a systematic review and meta-analysis to determine the prevalence and factors associated with respiratory viral infection in people of all ages with ARTI residing in Africa. This systematic review considered only data from sub-Saharan Africa did not perform a meta-analysis and quality assessment of the included articles. To address this gap of knowledge, we will conduct a systematic review and meta-analysis of the Viral Aetiology of Acute Respiratory Infections in Africa (VAR-IAFRICA) on people of all age groups to describe the epidemiology of respiratory viral infections (human respiratory syncytial virus, metapneumovirus, influenza virus, rhinovirus, adenovirus, bocavirus, parainfluenzavirus, coronavirus, and enterovirus). To the best of our knowledge, this will be the first systematic review and meta-analysis that will report the prevalence of viral aetiologies of ARTI in Africa including children and doi = 10.1186/s13643-019-1037-1 id = cord-252947-giijfhbz author = Khubone, Thokozani title = Electronic Health Information Systems to Improve Disease Diagnosis and Management at Point-of-Care in Low and Middle Income Countries: A Narrative Review date = 2020-05-20 keywords = Africa; EHIS; Health summary = title: Electronic Health Information Systems to Improve Disease Diagnosis and Management at Point-of-Care in Low and Middle Income Countries: A Narrative Review This review provides an overview of literature on EHIS''s with a focus on describing the key components of EHIS and presenting evidence on enablers and barriers to implementation of EHISs in LMICs. With guidance from the presented evidence, we proposed EHIS key stakeholders'' roles and responsibilities to ensure efficient utility of EHIS for disease diagnosis and management at POC in LMICs. The health sector is lagging behind in the era of information and technology (IT). There are various factors impeding the successful implementation and scale up of EHIS in LMICs. These include the following: complexity of the intervention and lack of technical consensus; limited human resource, poor leadership, insufficient finances, staff resistance, lack of management, low organizational capability; misapplication of proven diffusion techniques; non engagement of both local users and inadequate use of research findings when implementing [36] . doi = 10.3390/diagnostics10050327 id = cord-306748-i9ndb71n author = Kobia, Francis title = COVID-19: Are Africa’s diagnostic challenges blunting response effectiveness? date = 2020-04-17 keywords = Africa; SARS; covid-19 summary = In fact, this strategy is being used by Senegal, which together with UK collaborators, is developing an affordable COVID-19 RDT (expected to cost $1 per test) for home use in African countries (Financial Times, 2020b). The authors contend that most African countries lack the capacity to administer mass screening to ascertain the extent of the disease spread, and call for support toward the development of homegrown RDTs and POCTs as a strategy to achieve mass screening of COVID-19 in Africa The present review by the authors provides important information on diagnostic challenges facing African countries in their combat against the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. Specific to the present COVID-19 case, would it be faster and cheaper importing the diagnostic tools, as is already being done by some countries?The authors may wish to put " " section before " COVID-19 point of care testing strategies " section, for consistency with the conclusion. doi = 10.12688/aasopenres.13061.1 id = cord-018639-0g1ov96t author = Kurpiers, Laura A. title = Bushmeat and Emerging Infectious Diseases: Lessons from Africa date = 2015-09-21 keywords = Africa; Cameroon; Congo; Ebola; bushmeat; human; virus summary = Here we review the literature on bushmeat and EIDs for sub-Saharan Africa, summarizing pathogens (viruses, fungi, bacteria, helminths, protozoan, and prions) by bushmeat taxonomic group to provide for the first time a comprehensive overview of the current state of knowledge concerning zoonotic disease transmission from bushmeat into humans. In this review, we explore the links between bushmeat-related activities and EIDs in sub-Saharan Africa, where the vast majority of African emerging infectious zoonotic diseases occur (Jones et al. Although research has focused largely on mammals and, to a lesser extent, birds, theoretically any wildlife species harvested for bushmeat could be a potential source of zoonotic disease that can spillover during the hunting, butchering, and preparation process (Wolfe et al. With the increasing prevalence of zoonotic disease emergence and the associated risk for public health, we have to improve our understanding of the dynamics of spillover events of pathogens from animal to human hosts (Rostal et al. doi = 10.1007/978-3-319-22246-2_24 id = cord-018364-b06084r1 author = LaBrunda, Michelle title = The Emerging Threat of Ebola date = 2019-06-07 keywords = Africa; EVD; Ebola; Saa; disease; health; outbreak; virus summary = Transmission of Ebola disease is still being studied, but it is known that person-toperson contact is the most common form of spread. One study found the risk of developing EVD for healthcare workers to be 100 times that of the general community during an outbreak of Ebola in Sierra Leone [67] . After the outbreak of SARS in 2003 many countries starting using boarder screening to try to identify possibly ill people in hopes of limiting spread of infectious disease, others jumped on board after the 2009 H1N1 influenza pandemic. An article by the CDC, published around the same time as the article recommending travel restriction for high-risk individuals, concludes that border screens are expensive and not effective in preventing the spread of disease [100] . Infection Prevention and Control Recommendations for Hospitalized Patients Under Investigation (PUIs) for Ebola Virus Disease (EVD) in U doi = 10.1007/978-3-030-23491-1_6 id = cord-007701-23847ggw author = Lane, J. M. title = Mass Vaccination and Surveillance/Containment in the Eradication of Smallpox date = 2006 keywords = Africa; West; smallpox summary = Early observations in West Africa, bolstered by later data from Indonesia and the Asian subcontinent, showed that smallpox did not spread rapidly, and outbreaks could be quickly controlled by isolation of patients and vaccination of their contacts. The emphasis therefore shifted to active searches to find cases, coupled with contact tracing, rigorous isolation of patients, and vaccination and surveillance of contacts to contain outbreaks. Foege and his colleagues reasoned that the relatively slow spread of smallpox, with the ease of aborting outbreaks by vaccination of contacts, made the disease susceptible to control by actively searching for cases and concentrating on vaccinating their household and village contacts. He believed that if outbreaks could be found during the West African seasonal low in September through January, and chains of transmission broken by patient isolation and/or vaccination of close contacts, a large decrease in the seasonal high from February through June would result from a fairly small effort. doi = 10.1007/3-540-36583-4_2 id = cord-025998-1qawjquv author = Lara, R.J. title = Aquatic Ecosystems, Human Health, and Ecohydrology date = 2012-03-23 keywords = Africa; Asia; Brazil; Dam; River; Vibrio; cholera; disease; figure; human; increase; water summary = The effects of increasing water use and scarcity on human health are discussed considering historical and contemporary incidence of diarrheal diseases in European and South Asian megacities, relationships between dams and on waterborne diseases in Asia and Africa, and intensive agriand aquaculture resulting in man-made ecotones, fragmented aquatic ecosystems, and pathogen mutations. It is emphasized that the comprehension of the multiple interactions among changes in environmental settings, land use, and human health requires a new synthesis of ecohydrology, biomedical sciences, and water management for surveillance and control of waterborne diseases in basin-based, transboundary health systems. • natural biological cycles in which humans can act as hosts of pathogenic microorganisms (protozoans, bacteria, etc.); • consequences of the management of aquatic resources (e.g., wetlands drainage or creation, aquaculture, and dam construction); • effects of water pollution (chemical, microbiological, radio active, and thermal) on man and on the physiology of individual organisms; and • the impact of global changes affecting climate and hydrolo gical cycles (e.g., habitat degradation, warming, increased rainfall, and storms). doi = 10.1016/b978-0-12-374711-2.01015-9 id = cord-023488-jf2xl3vl author = Le Duc, James W. title = Emerging Viral Diseases: Why We Need to Worry about Bats, Camels, and Airplanes date = 2016-02-12 keywords = Africa; Ebola; SARS; disease; human; virus summary = On occasion, a virus that is already widespread in a population can emerge as a cause of epidemic or endemic disease, due to an increase in the ratio of cases to infections. Although many zoonotic viruses can be transmitted to humans on occasion, their relative ability to spread from human to human determines whether or not they emerge as significant new virus diseases of mankind (Table 2 ). In the history of modern virology (the last 50 years) there are very few documented instances where zoonotic viruses have established themselves in the human population and emerged as new viral diseases of mankind (Table 2 ). Rarely, as in the case of HIV, SARS coronavirus, and Ebola filovirus, a zoonotic virus becomes established in humans, causing a disease that is truly new to the human species. doi = 10.1016/b978-0-12-800964-2.00016-1 id = cord-329953-8nq7fvfh author = Le Grange, Lesley title = Covid-19 pandemic and the prospects of education in South Africa date = 2020-10-19 keywords = Africa; Grange; South; Ubuntu; covid-19 summary = This pandemic has revealed the underbelly of South African society in general and its education system more specifically—it has laid bare the gross inequalities that are the legacies of apartheid and the consequences of neoliberal capitalism. Drawing on ideas articulated in the four introductory chapters of the International Handbook of Curriculum Research, edited by William Pinar in 2014, this article discusses Covid-19 and the prospects of education in South Africa. The article shows how understanding the wisdom of indigenous traditions along with the moral dimensions of education, race, and the new technologies of surveillance, neoliberalism, and education can provide a nuanced awareness of the nature of the Covid-19 pandemic. Accordingly, I divide the rest of the article into the following sections: the moral dimension of education; race, technologies of surveillance, and bio-informationism; neoliberalism and the prospects of education after the Covid-19 pandemic; and why we need Ubuntu-currere. doi = 10.1007/s11125-020-09514-w id = cord-309587-xc4jaw31 author = Lembo, Tiziana title = The Feasibility of Canine Rabies Elimination in Africa: Dispelling Doubts with Data date = 2010-02-23 keywords = Africa; Tanzania; dog; rabie; vaccination summary = We conclude that (1) rabies substantially affects public and animal health sectors, hence regional and national priorities for control ought to be higher, (2) for practical purposes domestic dogs are the sole maintenance hosts and main source of infection for humans throughout most of Africa and Asia and sufficient levels of vaccination coverage in domestic dog populations should lead to elimination of canine rabies in most areas, (3) the vast majority of domestic dog populations across sub-Saharan Africa are accessible for vaccination with community sensitization being of paramount importance for the success of these programs, (4) improved local capacity in rabies surveillance and diagnostics will help evaluate the impact of control and elimination efforts, and (5) sustainable resources for effective dog vaccination campaigns are likely to be available through the development of intersectoral financing schemes involving both medical and veterinary sectors. doi = 10.1371/journal.pntd.0000626 id = cord-000808-pxryt8wn author = Leroy, Eric title = Filovirus Research in Gabon and Equatorial Africa: The Experience of a Research Center in the Heart of Africa date = 2012-09-13 keywords = Africa; CIRMF; Ebola; Gabon summary = Since the reemergence of Ebola virus in Central Africa, the CIRMF "Emerging Viral Disease Unit" developed diagnostic tools and epidemiologic strategies and transfers of such technology to support the response of the National Public Health System and the World Health Organization to epidemics of Ebola virus disease. As a National reference laboratory, CIRMF has the following roles: diagnosis of suspected cases during outbreaks of viral hemorrhagic fevers or severe clinical infectious syndromes; development of new methods for diagnosing such infections; surveillance of animal fatalities in reservoir or intermediate hosts; and intervention during outbreaks of unknown etiology. The Emerging Viral Diseases Unit, CIRMF, proposes forming a research partnership to study infectious diseases transmitted by animals of the tropical rain forests regions of Equatorial Africa. doi = 10.3390/v4091592 id = cord-337730-mqcgqwrb author = Leroy, Gregoire title = Food securers or invasive aliens? Trends and consequences of non-native livestock introgression in developing countries date = 2020-08-20 keywords = Africa; breed; country summary = The shift from local genetic resources to crossbred and exotic animals must be considered in the context of challenges such as food security, erosion of agrobiodiversity, interactions with other agricultural production, reduction of poverty and provision of ecosystem services, as well as resilience to and mitigation of climate change. We also investigate the relationship between those proportions and estimates of average milk yield per cow for 11 countries, as well as the trends of 190 national breed populations considered as locally adapted, and discuss issues regarding sustainability. In the Second Report on the State of the World''s Animal Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture (FAO et al., 2015) , countries, especially those of developing regions, reported indiscriminate crossbreeding and introduction or increased use of exotic breeds as the two main causes of genetic erosion. doi = 10.1016/j.gfs.2020.100420 id = cord-350456-lter7hy2 author = Lewis, Shantel title = Diagnostic radiographers’ experience of COVID-19, gauteng south africa date = 2020-09-18 keywords = Africa; COVID-19 summary = title: Diagnostic radiographers'' experience of COVID-19, gauteng south africa Results Sixty diagnostic radiographers representing both the private and public health sector responded to the questionnaire. Implications for practice Understanding the impact of COVID-19 on diagnostic radiographers will allow radiology departments'' management, hospital management, professional bodies and educational institutions to re-evaluate provision of resources, training, employee wellness programs as well as policies and procedures. 10 News reports indicate that the private healthcare sector may accommodate COVID-19 patients from the public health sector at an agreed price. [20] [21] [22] [23] [24] [25] Method A qualitative approach using an open-ended online questionnaire was used to explore Gauteng''s diagnostic radiographers'' experiences of COVID-19. Radiographers shared their experience of medical imaging departments implementing stringent infection control measures that affected work flow and operations. COVID-19) caused by a Novel Coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2) Guidelines for case-finding, diagnosis, management and public health response in South Africa doi = 10.1016/j.radi.2020.09.009 id = cord-277446-0e6akcjf author = Liu, Peilong title = China''s distinctive engagement in global health date = 2014-08-28 keywords = Africa; China; chinese; global; health summary = China''s health aid deploys medical teams, constructs facilities, donates drugs and equipment, trains personnel, and supports malaria control mainly in Africa and Asia. Regression analysis of African countries with variables of health aid (medical teams, donated facilities, malaria control) and economic interests (petroleum imports, China''s foreign investment, and China''s imports and exports) yielded no signifi cant pattern. 29 International eff orts include active participation and leadership in many international forums that foster cooperation in compliance of disease reporting and control, as shown by the initiation of the UN resolution on enhancement of capacity-building in global public health in 2003, and the joint International Pledging Conference on Avian and Human Pandemic Infl uenza with China, the European Commission, and the World Bank held in Beijing in 2006. doi = 10.1016/s0140-6736(14)60725-x id = cord-331714-2qj2rrgd author = Lvov, Dimitry Konstantinovich title = Single-Stranded RNA Viruses date = 2015-05-29 keywords = Aedes; Africa; Asia; Bunyaviridae; Congo; Crimean; East; Eurasia; Europe; Influenza; Ixodes; Nile; Northern; Republic; Russia; Sea; Siberia; TBEV; USSR; WNV; West; figure; isolate; isolation; tick; virus summary = Among them are viruses associated with sporadic cases or outbreaks of human disease, such as hemorrhagic fever with renal syndrome (viruses of the genus Hantavirus), Crimean–Congo hemorrhagic fever (CCHFV, Nairovirus), California encephalitis (INKV, TAHV, and KHATV; Orthobunyavirus), sandfly fever (SFCV and SFNV, Phlebovirus), Tick-borne encephalitis (TBEV, Flavivirus), Omsk hemorrhagic fever (OHFV, Flavivirus), West Nile fever (WNV, Flavivirus), Sindbis fever (SINV, Alphavirus) Chikungunya fever (CHIKV, Alphavirus) and others. Artashat virus (ARTSV, strain LEIV-2236Ar) was originally isolated from Ornithodoros alactagalis ticks (family Argasidae) collected in the burrows of a small five-toed jerboa (Allactaga elater) near Arevashat village (40 02 absence of antigenic relationships with any known viruses, it was referred to as an "unclassified bunyavirus." 1À3 Taxonomy. doi = 10.1016/b978-0-12-801742-5.00008-8 id = cord-022176-hprwqi4n author = Löscher, Thomas title = Emerging and Re-emerging Infectious Diseases date = 2009-07-28 keywords = Africa; Europe; United; case; country; disease; infection summary = Since the detection of the etiologic infectious agent and the subsequent development of laboratory diagnostic tests in the 1980s, the number of reported cases of Lyme disease has increased from 0 to 16,000 per year, indicating that it is an "emerging diagnosis." The reported numbers vary depending on the reproduction of the hosting rodents for ticks as well as the contacts between humans and nature (Spach et al. In recent years, norovirus infections are increasingly recognized as the cause of large outbreaks of diarrheal diseases in the general population, school classes, nursing homes, hospitals, and cruise ships in western countries with peaks in colder seasons (winter epidemics) (Centers of disease control 2006; Verhoef et al. Definition: only infections that are newly discovered in humans are listed in this chapter: HIV, new variant of Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (vCJD), hemorrhagic uremic syndrome (HUS) caused by enterohemorrhagic Escherichia coli, viral hemorrhagic fevers like Hanta, Lassa, Ebola, and Marburg fever, Nipah virus encephalitis, monkeypox, human ehrlichiosis, severe acute respiratory syndrome (coronavirus infection, SARS), and avian influenza (H5N1) (see Fig. 3 .1 and Table 3 .2). doi = 10.1007/978-0-387-93835-6_3 id = cord-275487-87763q62 author = Malherbe, Petrus title = Guidance we can trust? The status and quality of prehospital clinical guidance in sub-Saharan Africa: A scoping review date = 2020-09-28 keywords = Africa; SSA; guidance summary = These guidance documents include, but are not limited to, clinical practice guidelines (CPGs), protocols and algorithms that are contextually appropriate for SSA. METHODS: We conducted a scoping review of prehospital-relevant guidance documents, including CPGs, algorithms, protocols and position statements originating from SSA. Conversely, most of the guidance documents lack an appropriate evidence foundation and fail to transparently report the guidance development process, highlighting the need to strengthen and build guideline development capacity to promote the transition from eminence-based to evidence-based guidance for prehospital care in SSA. This potential lack of available upto-date high-quality prehospital guidance is not just a major concern for clinicians, but for guideline developers as well. We included any prehospital-relevant guidance documents (considering the broadest definition, e.g. protocols, patient care pathways, standard operating procedures) published either in English or French since 2005, and published in countries within SSA as stipulated by the United Nations (UN) [23] , listed in Appendix 1. doi = 10.1016/j.afjem.2020.08.005 id = cord-354972-nc496v6s author = Margolin, Emmanuel title = Prospects for SARS-CoV-2 diagnostics, therapeutics and vaccines in Africa date = 2020-09-10 keywords = Africa; BCG; COVID-19; HIV-1; SARS; South; vaccine summary = As of 8 August 2020, there have been over 1.2 million confirmed cases of COVID-19 in Africa, with 29,833 deaths reported (Africa CDC) There is concern that the pandemic may pose an even greater risk to countries in Africa owing to their weak health-care infrastructure, large burden of co-infections, including HIV-1 and tuberculosis, and ongoing outbreaks of emerging and re-emerging infections such as Ebola virus (Democratic Republic of Congo) and Lassa haemorrhagic fever (Nigeria) that will divert much-needed resources away from the fight against COVID-19 (ref. Given the optimistic development timeline of 12-18 months before any vaccines could be available for widespread use, it is clear that these efforts will not Box 1 | Potential impact of climate on SArS-coV-2 dissemination the comparatively low incidence of coronavirus disease-2019 (COviD19) in africa has raised the possibility that climate could influence the spread of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (sars-Cov-2). doi = 10.1038/s41579-020-00441-3 id = cord-270143-muxrxvyo author = Markotter, Wanda title = Paramyxo- and Coronaviruses in Rwandan Bats date = 2019-07-02 keywords = Africa; RNA; USA; bat summary = A high diversity of coronaand paramyxoviruses have been detected in different bat species at study sites worldwide, including Africa, however no biosurveillance studies from Rwanda have been reported. In this study, samples from bats collected from caves in Ruhengeri, Rwanda, were tested for the presence of coronaand paramyxoviral RNA using reverse transcription PCR assays. Although several surveillance studies have been implemented to detect potential zoonotic viruses in bats, including from countries in the Congo basin and East Africa, limited information is available for Rwanda. Confirmation of species identification of bats, in which viral RNA was detected, was performed by amplifying the cytochrome b (cyt b) or cytochrome oxidase one (COI) gene region and determining the DNA sequence. aegyptiacus-derived viral sequence (BatPV/Rou_aeg/UP438/RWA/2008) grouped within a Henipavirus-related clade and was near identical to a paramyxoviral sequence detected in the same host species previously reported from Kenya [36] . doi = 10.3390/tropicalmed4030099 id = cord-272991-opvs2ejd author = Masiira, Ben title = Building a new platform to support public health emergency response in Africa: the AFENET Corps of Disease Detectives, 2018–2019 date = 2020-10-13 keywords = AFENET; Africa; EVD summary = Since 2018, AFENET has deployed the ACoDD to support response to several PHEs. The main challenges faced during ACoDD deployments were financing of operations, ACoDD safety and security, resistance to interventions and distrust of the responders by some communities. 6 However, data at the African Field Epidemiology Network (AFENET) show that the sub-Saharan region Summary box ► Innovative strategies can be applied to leverage the inadequate public health workforce to address public health challenges including emergencies. The ninth Ebola virus disease outbreak in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, May-July 2018 Soon after ACoDD was launched, AFENET received a request from the DRC Ministry of Health to support the response to the EVD outbreak in Équateur Province. Between 10 May and 24 July 2018, AFENET, in collaboration with the US Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), deployed a team of 84 ACoDD members to support the national RRT contributing a total of 2590 person-days of deployment. doi = 10.1136/bmjgh-2020-002874 id = cord-332610-t99l3zii author = Mayer, J.D. title = Emerging Diseases: Overview date = 2008-08-26 keywords = AIDS; Africa; HIV; SARS; States; United; disease summary = The potential for new diseases to emerge in the United States was there, and it took just a few years until this happened, catching the medical and public health communities by surprise. The issue at the time was whether legionnaires disease and toxic shock syndrome were anomalies, whether the assumption of the conquest of infectious diseases had clearly been erroneous, or whether these two outbreaks were harbingers of a new stage in ''epidemiologic history''a historical period during which emerging infections would become common and would catch the attention of the public, the public health community, the medical community, and government agencies. Severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) proved to be of great import in both the public awareness of emerging infectious diseases and in the testing and real-time construction of both domestic and international systems of public health surveillance and response. doi = 10.1016/b978-012373960-5.00453-6 id = cord-320127-55h4hhm3 author = Mazingi, Dennis title = Mitigating the impact of COVID-19 on children''s surgery in Africa date = 2020-06-10 keywords = Africa; COVID-19; SARS summary = 13 The COVID-19 pandemic has placed unprecedented strain on health services around the world, and paediatric surgical services are no exception. During the 2003 severe acute respiratory syndrome-related coronavirus (SARS-CoV)-1 outbreak in Toronto, stringent restrictions on non-essential surgical services were thought to have aggravated precipitous declines in surgical volume, with only small increases in surge capacity for the outbreak. 42 Paediatric care in Africa is typically characterised by significant involvement by guardians and other family members who support the child during hospital admission, assist the overburdened healthcare workforce and act as care advocates. A recent global review of paediatric surgical workforce density showed that a minimum of four paediatric surgeons per million children under 15 years of age would be required to achieve a survival of >80% for a group of four bellwether paediatric surgical conditions. Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infection in children and adolescents: a systematic review doi = 10.1136/bmjgh-2020-003016 id = cord-335117-p03svmfr author = Mehtar, Shaheen title = Limiting the spread of COVID-19 in Africa: one size mitigation strategies do not fit all countries date = 2020-04-28 keywords = Africa; COVID-19 summary = Limiting the spread of COVID-19 in Africa : one size mitigation strategies do not fit all countries On March 11, 2020, when coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), was declared a pandemic by WHO, there were comparatively few cases reported from Africa. Furthermore, the effect of ongoing lockdowns (eg, partial in Senegal and Democratic Republic of the Congo vs total in South Africa) and case-finding mitigation strategies will depend on each country''s political leadership, socioeconomic realities, and epidemic stage. Early evidence of flattening the epidemic curve through a proactive, 30-day total lockdown and physical distancing is being documented in South Africa. However, before physical distancing measures can be eased, it is crucial to have in place a robust and functioning public health infrastructure to scale up case finding through testing, isolation, and contact tracing to ultimately interrupt coronavirus transmission. doi = 10.1016/s2214-109x(20)30212-6 id = cord-304748-ddwawfv2 author = Mendelsohn, Andrea S. title = COVID-19 and Antiretroviral Therapies: South Africa’s Charge Towards 90–90–90 in the Midst of a Second Pandemic date = 2020-04-30 keywords = Africa; HIV summary = In preparation for a future swell of COVID-19 patients, the Western Cape Department of Health (WC DoH) implemented a plan to "de-escalate" healthcare services to reduce the spread of infection and increase capacity to accommodate COVID-19 patients [2] . The SAHCS strongly advocated that 6-month supplies of ARVs be issued to stable patients, reducing the risk of COVID-19 exposure inherent in seeking in-person treatment at healthcare facilities as well as to minimize patient flow in a clinic [10] . The SAHCS and WC DoH recommendations seek to fast-track PLHIV onto a robust ARV regimen during the pandemic to maximize their possibility of viral suppression and minimize their exposure to the healthcare system and, potentially, COVID-19. It is well documented that differentiated models of care, such as South Africa''s adherence clubs, for stable ARV patients have improved long-term virologic suppression and retention in care in comparison to usual care [11] [12] [13] . doi = 10.1007/s10461-020-02898-y id = cord-023884-etkhrgxp author = Meremikwu, Martin title = Malaria in Women and Children date = 2009-05-18 keywords = Africa; HIV; malaria; saharan summary = falciparum infections (often in persons who have no immunity to malaria or whose immunity has decreased) are complicated by serious organ failures or abnormalities in the patient''s blood or metabolism, resulting in cerebral malaria, with abnormal behavior, impairment of consciousness, seizures, coma, or other neurologic abnormalities, severe anemia due to hemolysis (destruction of the red blood cells), hemoglobinuria (hemoglobin in the urine) due to hemolysis, pulmonary edema (fluid buildup in the lungs) or acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS), which may occur even after the parasite counts have decreased in response to treatment, abnormalities in blood coagulation and thrombocytopenia (decrease in blood platelets), cardiovascular collapse, shock, acute kidney failure, hyperparasitemia, where more than 5% of the red blood cells are infected by malaria parasites, metabolic acidosis (excessive acidity in the blood and tissue fluids), often in association with hypoglycemia (low blood glucose). A review of studies in areas of sub-Saharan Africa with high and stable malaria transmission shows that HIV-1 infection and clinically diagnosed AIDS increased the incidence of malaria 1.2-fold and 2fold, respectively (Korenromp et al. Achieving high coverage of insecticide-treated bed nets (ITNs) use and prompt access to treatment with artemisininbased combination treatments (ACTs) would contribute to the reduction in the morbidity and Source: WHO-AFRO (2004) mortality attributable to HIV co-infection with malaria in high transmission areas. doi = 10.1007/b106524_12 id = cord-261533-73721b24 author = Mok, Chris Ka Pun title = T-cell responses to MERS coronavirus infection in people with occupational exposure to dromedary camels in Nigeria: an observational cohort study date = 2020-10-06 keywords = Africa; MERS summary = We therefore aimed to test peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC) in workers from an abattoir in Kano, Nigeria, for MERS-CoV-specific T-cell responses to understand if the dromedary-exposed individuals in Africa have been infected by MERS-CoV. Evidence before this study Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus (MERS-CoV) is recognised as one of eight emerging pathogens of greatest threat to global public health, and dromedary camels are the source of human zoonotic infection. Because there was evidence that serological assays for MERS-CoV had suboptimal sensitivity for past infection and because we had previous data showing that T-cell assays for MERS-CoV are specific and potentially more sensitive than antibody detection, we investigated T-cell responses in dromedary-exposed abattoir workers and controls in Nigeria. 61 (53%) of the 115 participants had PBMCs available for additional testing for four endemic human coronaviruses (229E, HKU1, NL63, and OC43), including 18 dromedary-exposed workers positive and ten negative for a MERS-CoV T-cell response and 33 from the negative control groups who were all MERS-CoV T-cell negative. doi = 10.1016/s1473-3099(20)30599-5 id = cord-005233-bm54jqqf author = Mokgolodi, Neo C. title = Ziziphus mucronata: an underutilized traditional medicinal plant in Africa date = 2011-08-06 keywords = Africa; Ziziphus; mucronata summary = title: Ziziphus mucronata: an underutilized traditional medicinal plant in Africa mauritiana are currently the most important, especially in China and India where they are cultivated and exploited for medicinal use and their edible fruits. Traditional remedies made from these plants play an important role in maintaining the health of 70%-80% of people in rural and indigenous communities throughout Africa (Cunningham, 1993) . One of the medicinal plants used in China to cure diseases is Ziziphus jujuba Mill. mucronata stem, they give this traditional medicinal plant its antibacterial properties (Tan and Zhou, 2006) . Species in the genus Ziziphus are increasingly becoming popular due to their outstanding advantages, such as early bearing, high fruit yield, rich nutrition, multiple uses, long flowering season and high tolerance to drought and barren soils (International Centre for Underutilized Crops, 2001; Liu and Zhao, 2009 ). mucronata, several other Ziziphus species are exploited for medicinal use in other parts of the world as well. doi = 10.1007/s11632-011-0309-1 id = cord-024570-jfm4yvef author = Moodley, Prevan title = A discourse analysis of Ebola in South African newspapers (2014–2015) date = 2019-08-13 keywords = Africa; Ebola; Weldon; discourse summary = The 2014 Ebola outbreak in three African states transformed the virus into a social reality in which media representations contributed to globalised hysteria and had rhetorical effects. This study investigated representations of the Ebola virus/disease in South African news reports (March 2014–June 2015). To demonstrate this, Mondragon, de Montes and Valencia (2017) showed that laypersons'' social representations depicted Ebola as being definitively African (particularly in being linked to poverty), along with portrayals of dread about entering the affected countries and ''backward'' Africa lacking competence to manage the disease. In this article, we therefore aim to illustrate how fear was the effect of particular representations that emanate from cultural and metaphorical content in news reports in the 2014 Ebola epidemic. The threat to humanity discourse found in the current study is typical of media representations of Ebola outbreaks that occurred until 2001 (Weldon, 2001b) . doi = 10.1177/0081246319868656 id = cord-311240-o0zyt2vb author = Motayo, Babatunde Olarenwaju title = Evolution and Genetic Diversity of SARSCoV-2 in Africa Using Whole Genome Sequences date = 2020-07-27 keywords = Africa; SARS; sequence summary = Our study has revealed a rapidly diversifying viral population with the G614 spike protein variant dominating, we advocate for up scaling NGS sequencing platforms across Africa to enhance surveillance and aid control effort of SARSCoV-2 in Africa. The pathogen was later identified to be a novel coronavirus closely related to the severe acute respiratory syndrome virus (SARS), with a possible bat origin (Zhou et al, 2020) . This study was designed to determine to the genetic diversity and evolutionary history of genome sequences of SARSCoV-2 isolated in Africa. Results of recombination analysis of the African SARSCoV-2 (AfrSARSCoV-2) sequences against references whole genome sequences of SARS, Recombination signals were observed between the African SARSCoV-2 sequences and reference sequence (Major recombinant hCoV-19 Pangolin/Guangu P4L/2017; Minor parent hCoV-19 B batYunan/RaTG13) between the RdRP and S gene regions (Figure 2 ). doi = 10.1101/2020.07.27.222901 id = cord-273605-vzmn6zep author = Mougeni, F. title = The potential effect of the African population age structure on COVID-19 mortality date = 2020-05-21 keywords = Africa summary = As COVID-19 mortality occurs mainly in elderly and as Africa has a comparably young population, the death rates should be lower than on other continents. We calculated standardised mortality ratios (SMR) using age-specific case fatality rates for COVID-19 and the age structure of the population of Africa and of other continents. It is useful to quantify the isolated effect of the African age-structure on potential COVID-19 mortality for illustrative and communication purposes, keeping in mind the importance of public health measures that have been shown to be effective in reducing cases and deaths. As age-specific case fatality rates for COVID-19 are available, and the age structure of the population of Africa and of other continents is known, it is possible to calculate the comparative effect of age using methods known from indirect age adjustment. Authors of mathematical models predicting COVID-19 mortality in Africa acknowledge the strong effect of age in the African population. doi = 10.1101/2020.05.19.20106914 id = cord-335404-s48psqth author = Mukandavire, Zindoga title = Quantifying early COVID-19 outbreak transmission in South Africa and exploring vaccine efficacy scenarios date = 2020-07-24 keywords = Africa; COVID-19; South summary = doi = 10.1371/journal.pone.0236003 id = cord-032252-8usagw86 author = Muntingh, Lukas M title = Africa, Prisons and COVID-19 date = 2020-08-31 keywords = Africa; South; prison summary = Yet African states have remained remarkably reluctant to engage in prison reform, despite the fact that poorly managed prisons pose a significant threat to general public health care. When the World Health Organization (WHO) recommended the release of prisoners to address overcrowding (WHO 2020) and this call was further supported by the UN Subcommittee on Prevention of Torture (SPT) in its public advice to National Preventive Mechanisms (NPMs) (UN SPT 2020: para 9(b)), it seemed in principle like an admirable idea, but reality demanded a more cautious approach, in Africa at least. Seven countries announced significant releases with the highest number in South Africa (19,000), Ethiopia (5,600) and Mozambique (5,032) (Republic of South Africa, The Presidency 2020; Ethiopian Monitor 2020a; Daily Nation 2020) and the lowest in Botswana (149). Of the 24 countries surveyed in southern and east Africa, only two could be confirmed as not having declared a state of disaster or emergency or lockdown: Malawi and Tanzania (New Frame 2020). doi = 10.1093/jhuman/huaa031 id = cord-298763-u5xn392m author = Mutala, Timothy Musila title = Radiology practice in sub-Saharan Africa during the COVID-19 outbreak: points to consider date = 2020-09-07 keywords = Africa; COVID-19; radiology summary = Given that pandemics such as COVID-19 can worsen the strain on the scantily available radiological resources in this region, we share some practical points that can be applied to manage these precious resources also needed for other essential services. Radiologists in sub-Saharan Africa must be fully cognizant of the radiological features of COVID-19 by referring to the aforementioned literature and the few cases they have from imaging patients with COVID-19 disease in their local setting. "Red" and "green" zones principle (minimize healthcare acquired infections): diagnosis of COVID-19 starts at the public health and primary care realms with clear case definition as developed by WHO [11] . At the same time, in the main hospital setting, it is imperative that the radiology managers and their staff get actively involved in the development of their institutional standard operating protocols (SOPs) on handling COVID-19 cases. "Red zone" operations demand designation of facilities including imaging for the COVID-19 diagnosed or suspected patients. doi = 10.11604/pamj.2020.37.28.23081 id = cord-311601-w2jqmpww author = Muzemil, Abdulazeez title = African perspectives: modern complexities of emerging, re-emerging, and endemic zoonoses date = 2018-10-25 keywords = Africa; human summary = Specifically, land use change cum agricultural practices, surging human demographic, pathogen evolution (antimicrobial resistance), failure of public health systems, global travel and more global interconnectedness in spatial and temporal dimensions have driven these threats [2] . Consequently, new challenges have emerged, including: border-related conflicts, food security risk due to declines agricultural production, vectorand water-borne diseases, (especially in areas with inadequate health infrastructure), flooding and exacerbation of desertification by changes in rainfall and intensified land use [2] . It is suggested that, as long as Africa (or any other continent) does not address complex interactions -such as those that involve agriculture, the environment, economics, sociology, as well as zoonotic pathogens, disease outbreaks may follow human-driven disruptions, as those observed after major changes in land use, eg, those related with the construction of dams, mines, and intensive agriculture. doi = 10.7189/johg.08.020310 id = cord-345067-kummh0g7 author = Nachega, Jean B. title = Mobile Health Technology for Enhancing the COVID-19 Response in Africa: A Potential Game Changer? date = 2020-05-29 keywords = Africa; COVID-19 summary = title: Mobile Health Technology for Enhancing the COVID-19 Response in Africa: A Potential Game Changer? Mobile Health Technology for Enhancing the COVID-19 Response in Africa: A Potential Game Changer? 3 However, as lockdowns and social distancing measures are currently being lifted in stages by most African countries, governments will need to ensure that public health infrastructure and needed resources are put in place for community surveillance to identify cases and clusters of new infections through active case finding, large-scale testing, and contact tracing. 7 Mobile phone technology (mHealth) platforms are effective in improving service delivery and outcomes for many health conditions in Africa and globally, including HIV infection, tuberculosis, and chronic noncommunicable diseases. 7, 8 With the support of global mobile technology companies and small and medium enterprises within Africa, mHealth offers opportunities ranging from text messaging to mobile apps to mitigate the spread of COVID-19. COVID-19 AND MOBILE HEALTH TECHNOLOGY IN AFRICA doi = 10.4269/ajtmh.20-0506 id = cord-293620-rliv7hms author = Naicker, Saraladevi title = Nephrology in Africa: forgotten no more date = 2020-09-30 keywords = Africa; ISN summary = D uring a time when the world is grappling with the coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic, African nephrology suffered a major setback, with the passing of 3 of its stalwarts: Oladipo Akinkugke (Nigeria), Jacob Plange-Rhule (Ghana)-whose obituaries are featured in this issue-and Mohamed Abdullah (Kenya). 1 According to the Global Burden of Disease Study, apart from a few countries in Central America and Southeast Asia, African countries have the highest age-standardized rates of disability-adjusted life years attributable to chronic kidney disease. Kidney transplantation is increasing in Africa and is largely from living donors, with deceased donor Saraladevi Naicker 1 The South African Renal Society and the Egyptian Society of Nephrology and Transplantation were founded in 1967 and 1970, respectively. The International Society of Nephrology, through its capacity-building programs, has supported training of fellows and knowledge exchange for setting up renal services in Africa. They were succeeded by Saraladevi Naicker The ISN message of education and training in nephrology was enthusiastically received by the African medical community, and its programs were increasingly subscribed. doi = 10.1016/j.kint.2020.07.016 id = cord-303700-rrwy3osd author = Neiderud, Carl-Johan title = How urbanization affects the epidemiology of emerging infectious diseases date = 2015-06-24 keywords = Africa; disease; health; population; urban summary = The lack of a universal definition makes it hard to compare different countries and cities in regard to public health and the burden and impact of infectious diseases (4) . Many of the lower income countries are expected to have a major growth among the urban population, which leads to considerable challenges for the governments and health care to keep up to pace and develop their social services and health care as these regions grow. The environment in urban cities has proven to be favourable for the rat population (Rattus spp.) and close encounters between rats and humans can lead to transmission of zoonotic infectious diseases. LF still has its major impact in rural settings, but the increasing urbanization in the developing world has made LF an infectious disease that also has to be considered elsewhere. doi = 10.3402/iee.v5.27060 id = cord-001401-f29y8vh5 author = Nelson, Martha I. title = Multiyear Persistence of 2 Pandemic A/H1N1 Influenza Virus Lineages in West Africa date = 2014-07-01 keywords = Africa; West summary = Increased genetic sequencing of African A/H1N1 pandemic influenza viruses during 2009-2013 revealed multiyear persistence of 2 viral lineages within West Africa, raising questions about the roles of reduced air traffic and the asynchrony of seasonal influenza epidemics among West African countries in the evolution of independent lineages. Increased genetic sequencing of African A/H1N1 pandemic influenza viruses during 2009-2013 revealed multiyear persistence of 2 viral lineages within West Africa, raising questions about the roles of reduced air traffic and the asynchrony of seasonal influenza epidemics among West African countries in the evolution of independent lineages. To elucidate the evolution of influenza viruses in Africa, we conducted a large-scale phylogenetic analysis of global pH1N1 influenza virus diversity during 2009-2013, including 299 pH1N1 HA sequences collected in 18 African countries. Our analysis identified 2 well-supported clades of pH1N1 viruses that each persisted for >1.5 years in West Africa, highlighting the need to further understand the ecology and evolution of IAVs in this understudied and relatively geographically isolated region. doi = 10.1093/infdis/jiu047 id = cord-325931-9gqonmf5 author = Nguimkeu, Pierre title = Why is the Number of COVID-19 Cases Lower Than Expected in Sub-Saharan Africa? A Cross-Sectional Analysis of the Role of Demographic and Geographic Factors date = 2020-10-21 keywords = Africa; SSA; Saharan summary = Subject to the above-mentioned data quality caveats, our results provide conclusive evidence that the relatively low progression of the epidemic in Sub-Saharan Africa and the gap observed in the number of active cases compared to the rest of the world can be partly explained by the differences in demographic and geographic factors. where denotes the true COVID-19 outcome variable in country (e.g., log Active Cases); is a binary indicator * (dummy variable) for sub-Saharan Africa, which equals 1 if country is a sub-Sahara African country, and equals 0 otherwise; is the duration of the epidemic in country (i.e. the number of days elapsed since the first confirmed case was reported in country ); is a vector of explanatory variables including epidemiological, = [ 2 ,…, ] demographic, environmental, economic and health infrastructure factors in country ; doi = 10.1016/j.worlddev.2020.105251 id = cord-269702-20sldbte author = Nkengasong, John N title = Response to the Ebola virus disease outbreak in the Democratic Republic of the Congo date = 2018-06-14 keywords = Africa; DRC; Ebola summary = Thus, this is the first time the DRC Government and partners are Response to the Ebola virus disease outbreak in the Democratic Republic of the Congo AAA screening. The global health community learned from the 2014-16 west Africa Ebola virus disease outbreak that a speedy response was vital to control the outbreak. 5 At the continental level, within 2 days of declaration of the outbreak the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC), which one of us (JNN) leads, had activated its Emergency Operation Center in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia; deployed an advance team of epidemiologists to Kinshasa to assist the Ministry of Heath; and briefed an extraordinary session of the Permanent Representative Committee of the 55 African Union member states. In future, the response to a potential tenth outbreak of Ebola virus disease in DRC must be led by the country''s national public health institute. doi = 10.1016/s0140-6736(18)31326-6 id = cord-322244-3en3yey1 author = Nkengasong, John N title = Looming threat of COVID-19 infection in Africa: act collectively, and fast date = 2020-02-27 keywords = Africa; covid-19 summary = Because of the high volume of air traffic and trade between China and Africa, 1 Africa is at a high risk for the introduction and spread of the novel coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19); although only Egypt has reported the first case, from a non-national. To help develop a common strategy that will allow for effective coordination, collaboration, and communication, the African Union Commission, Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC), and WHO, in partnership with African countries, have established the Africa Taskforce for Coronavirus Preparedness and Response (AFTCOR). Second, any effective preparedness and response strategy for COVID-19 requires a committed political will; as such, the African Union Commission, Africa CDC, and WHO convened, on Feb 22, 2020, in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, an emergency meeting of all ministers of health of 55 member states to commit to acting fast and collectively to develop and implement a coordinated continent-wide strategy. doi = 10.1016/s0140-6736(20)30464-5 id = cord-356074-kw8c2fgk author = Oboh, Mary Aigbiremo title = Translation of genomic epidemiology of infectious pathogens: Enhancing African genomics hubs for outbreaks date = 2020-08-13 keywords = ACDC; Africa summary = Genomic technologies have been vital in enhancing the understanding and development of intervention approaches against these, such as Ebola, and recently the novel coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). CONCLUSION: The ACDC needs to scale-up its campaign for government support across African Union countries to ensure sustainable financing of its strategy for increased pathogen genomic intelligence and other interventions in current and inevitable future epidemics in Africa. The ACDC needs to scale-up its campaign for government support across African Union countries to ensure sustainable financing of its strategy for increased pathogen genomic intelligence and other interventions in current and inevitable future epidemics in Africa. In the event of epidemics such as COVID-19, genomic data generation for real-time decision making could be enhanced by the adoption and decentralised application of small, portable, easily operated experimental tools such as Oxford Nanopore technology-MinION sequencer, Illumina MiniSeq or the BGI-DNBSeq across all countries. doi = 10.1016/j.ijid.2020.08.027 id = cord-304610-6o3hydg6 author = Odeyemi, Festus Ayotunde title = Gauging the laboratory responses to coronavirus disease (COVID‐19) in Africa date = 2020-08-27 keywords = Africa; PCR; covid-19 summary = authors: Odeyemi, Festus Ayotunde; Adekunle, Ibrahim Ayoade; Ogunbanjo, Olakitan Wahab; Folorunso, Jamiu Bello; Akinbolaji, Thompson; Olawoye, Idowu Bolade In this study, we assessed the various forms of laboratory responses to the containment, risk analyses, structures and features of COVID‐19 in high incidence African countries (Nigeria, South Africa, Egypt, Ghana, Algeria, Morocco, etc.) to aid better and efficient laboratory responses to the highly infectious diseases. Laboratory professionals play essential roles in diagnosis, epidemiologic surveillance and monitoring of patients with suspected and established cases of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infection, which is the virus strain that causes coronavirus disease (COVID-19; Lippi & Plebani, 2020) . In this study, an attempt is made to unravel the underlying testing procedures adopted by high incidence African nations (Nigeria, South Africa, Egypt, Ghana, Morocco, Algeria) with attendant efficacy relative to their population density. doi = 10.1002/pa.2280 id = cord-020199-rm0c2vu9 author = Odusanya, Kayode title = Exploring the Determinants of Internet Usage in Nigeria: A Micro-spatial Approach date = 2020-03-10 keywords = Africa; Nigeria; internet summary = The novelty of our analysis stems from a unique dataset constructed by matching geo-referenced information from an inventory of network equipment to a nationally representative street-level survey of over 20,000 Nigerians, by far one of the largest technology adoption surveys in sub-Saharan Africa to date within the information systems literature. Second, our focus on Nigeria provides a plausible and timely case study of the effect of broadband infrastructure diffusion on internet usage in SSA and the broader developing country context. Comparatively, this study is therefore the first to explore the individual-level influence of broadband infrastructure on internet adoption using a micro-spatial approach, especially in a developing country context. Hence, we would argue that the failure to control for this network infrastructure effect in the study of broadband adoption across developing countries could well result in significant omitted variable bias. doi = 10.1007/978-3-030-45002-1_26 id = cord-278022-sc02fyqs author = Ogundiran, Akin title = On COVID-19 and Matters Arising date = 2020-06-05 keywords = Africa; CMC; COVID-19; social summary = The final phase of the editorial process that culminated in this issue of African Archaeological Review (Volume 36, 2) took place in the atmosphere of panic and uncertainties unleashed by the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. These concepts-for which I will use the acronym, VCRRS-are often invoked in discussions about how past societies have coped with (or failed to manage) climate change, natural disaster, conflict, ecological degradation, resource scarcity, and social inequality and the implications for the present and future. Heritage studies must take advantage of the interdisciplinary approaches of archaeology so that it can be relevant to the needs of African peoples, especially by supporting the quest to liberate Africa from economic and intellectual dependency rather than perpetuating that dependency. A forum has been convened for future publication in the African Archaeological Review that will explore some aspects of this question while also providing a platform to discuss what we are learning in African archaeology and heritage studies from the social, political, economic, and ecological dimensions of the COVID-19 pandemic. doi = 10.1007/s10437-020-09390-x id = cord-282073-738h46g0 author = Ogunkola, Isaac Olushola title = Rural communities in Africa should not be forgotten in responses to COVID‐19 date = 2020-08-13 keywords = Africa; rural summary = authors: Ogunkola, Isaac Olushola; Adebisi, Yusuff Adebayo; Imo, Uchenna Frank; Odey, Goodness Ogeyi; Esu, Ekpereonne; Lucero‐Prisno, Don Eliseo Shortage of healthcare workforce in these areas, poor health facilities/structures and limited access to COVID‐19 diagnostics services may also make containment challenging. Shortage of healthcare workforce in these areas, poor health facilities/structures and limited access to COVID-19 diagnostics services may also make containment challenging. It is therefore important that investment should be made in these areas towards providing the necessary tools, resources, and manpower to ensure effective containment of COVID-19 and to alleviate the plight caused by the pandemic in rural Africa. Although there has been a number of actions implemented to address the pandemic and its impact, the increasing number of COVID-19 cases poses a major threat particularly with the various limitations and challenges that plague health services in rural areas of the continent. doi = 10.1002/hpm.3039 id = cord-347109-vgubi2k8 author = Okoi, Obasesam title = How health inequality affect responses to the COVID-19 pandemic in Sub-Saharan Africa date = 2020-07-10 keywords = Africa; COVID-19 summary = Recognizing the importance of handwashing in preventing the spread of COVID-19, concerns have arisen about the condition of millions of Africans who lack access to hygiene facilities and clean water services. Recognizing the importance of handwashing in preventing the spread of COVID-19, concerns have arisen about the condition of millions of Africans who lack access to hygiene facilities and clean water services. Our analysis reveals the challenging context of mitigating the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic in sub-Saharan Africa, given the disparities in health and the socioeconomic conditions in which they arise. Health disparities in Nigeria affect the distribution of water and hygiene services among poor populations, which can lead to a disproportionate impact on public health outcomes during a pandemic outbreak such as COVID-19. The disparity in handwashing facility coverage across sub-Saharan Africa paints a disturbing picture of health inequality that reveals the vulnerability of the poor to the COVID-19 pandemic. doi = 10.1016/j.worlddev.2020.105067 id = cord-029728-fwzm6c61 author = Omorogiuwa, Tracy BE title = COVID-19 and older adults in Africa: Social workers’ utilization of mass media in enforcing policy change date = 2020-07-23 keywords = Africa; Omorogiuwa; Social summary = title: COVID-19 and older adults in Africa: Social workers'' utilization of mass media in enforcing policy change This article canvasses for the utilization of the mass media in initiating policy response to the challenges of older adults throughout the continent. It is against this background that social workers must be at the vanguard of promoting policy change in the context of the challenges faced by older adults in Africa, through the instrumentality of the mass media. The coronavirus pandemic has restated the necessity of urgent policy response to older adults in Africa. Although the impact of the mass media in initiating policy change at both micro and macro levels is well noted, social workers, as agents of social change, have scantly deployed this channel to working with older adults in Africa. doi = 10.1177/0020872820941748 id = cord-309509-ftwpys3y author = Ondoa, Pascale title = COVID-19 testing in Africa: lessons learnt date = 2020-07-03 keywords = Africa; COVID-19 summary = AFTCOR has led COVID-19 testing capacity scale-up as one of the key objectives under the Africa joint continental strategy for COVID-19 outbreak. 2 The Africa CDC Pathogen Genomics Intelligence Institute, which is also part of the joint continental COVID-19 strategy, provides training and resources to 16 AU member states to generate up to 2500 SARS-CoV-2 whole-genome sequences and will enable the submission of these sequences to the Global Initiative on Sharing all Influenza Data platform. PCR testing platforms'' footprint within national disease control programmes, and the private and animal laboratory sectors offer an opportunity to make use of free testing capacity and sample referral routes for COVID-19 diagnostics. To address these challenges, Africa CDC launched the Partnership to Accelerate COVID-19 Testing on request from AU heads of states, with the following key strategic areas: (1) organising all AU member states as one large customer and coordinating the continuous supply of test kits and commodities at a negotiated price and based on accurate forecast of needs; (2) decentralising COVID-19 testing through strategic planning that can guarantee laboratory quality, biosafety, and the establishment of robust sample referral systems; e104 doi = 10.1016/s2666-5247(20)30068-9 id = cord-287949-243xlmep author = Onovo, A. A. title = Using Supervised Machine Learning and Empirical Bayesian Kriging to reveal Correlates and Patterns of COVID-19 Disease outbreak in sub-Saharan Africa: Exploratory Data Analysis date = 2020-05-02 keywords = Africa; COVID-19; HIV; SSA summary = Explanatory or independent variables in the model included total population, GDP per capita, percentage of population with access to electricity, percentage of population with access to basic drinking water, incidence of malaria (per 1,000 population at risk), percentage of men and women aged 15 and over who currently smoke any tobacco product, Diarrhea treatment (percent of children under 5 receiving oral rehydration and continued feeding), percentage of infants who received third-dose of pneumococcal conjugate-based vaccine (PCV), incidence of tuberculosis (per 100,000 people), percent out-of-pocket expenditure, life expectancy at birth, Health Systems Performance Index, estimated incidence rate (new HIV infection per 1,000 uninfected population, children aged 0-14 years), estimated incidence rate (new HIV infection per 1,000 uninfected population, adolescents aged 10-19 years), HIV prevalence among people aged 15-49 years, transmission classification of COVID-19 disease (1=imported, 2=local transmission), income group (1=High Income, 2=Low income, 3=Lower middle income, 4=Upper middle income), Geocoordinates of SSA countries (latitude and longitude), and Time (days) between the first and last reported coronavirus cases. doi = 10.1101/2020.04.27.20082057 id = cord-293160-v28rnvpg author = Orunmuyi, Akintunde T title = Underutilisation of nuclear medicine scans at a regional hospital in Nigeria: need for implementation research date = 2020-08-28 keywords = Africa; Nigeria; scan summary = title: Underutilisation of nuclear medicine scans at a regional hospital in Nigeria: need for implementation research To understand the relevant public health initiatives that will be required, this study assessed the pattern of nuclear medicine imaging services at the first nuclear medicine centre in Nigeria from January 2010 to December 2018. METHODS: The data of consecutive nuclear medicine (NM) scans performed between 1st January 2010 and 31st December 2018 at the NM department in a tertiary hospital in Nigeria were extracted from patient records and analysed using SAS version 9.4 (SAS Institute, Cary, NC). The medical records of consecutive patients who underwent NM scans at the Department of Nuclear Medicine at the University College Hospital, Ibadan, between January 2010 and December 2018 were retrospectively reviewed. Furthermore, the studies to explore other unknown factors that play a role in the low throughput of NM services in Nigeria and other Sub-Saharan African countries are warranted. doi = 10.3332/ecancer.2020.1093 id = cord-027859-citynr6c author = P. Shetty, Nandini title = Epidemiology of Disease in the Tropics date = 2020-06-22 keywords = Africa; Asia; HIV; Health; South; disease summary = No more than six deadly infectious diseases: pneumonia, tuberculosis, diarrhoeal diseases, malaria, measles and more recently, HIV/AIDS, account for half of all premature deaths, killing mostly children and young adults (Figure 3 .3). 9 In May 2002, the World Health Organization and the United Nations Children''s Fund recommended that the formulation of oral rehydration solution (ORS) for treatment of patients with diarrhoea be changed to one with a reduced osmolarity and that safety of the new formulation, particularly development of symptomatic hyponatremia, be monitored. Rotavirus is the most common cause of severe diarrhoeal disease in infants and young children all over the world, and an important public health problem, particularly in developing countries where 600 000 deaths each year are associated with this infection. falciparum causes most of the severe disease and deaths attributable to malaria and is most prevalent in Africa south of the Sahara and in certain areas of South-east Asia and the Western Pacifi c (Figure 3.7) . doi = 10.1016/b978-1-4160-4470-3.50007-0 id = cord-257358-uoek1pba author = Peset, José L. title = Plagues and Diseases in History date = 2015-03-12 keywords = Africa; America; Europe; century; disease; history summary = In spite of the development of the medical science, during the twentieth century, individuals have observed the spread of new or reemerging diseases, from plague, cholera, and flu; measles, cancer, and malaria; to acquired immune deficiency syndrome, West Nile fever, resistant tuberculosis, virus of Ebola, Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease, and others. The study of the transmission of pathogens through animals and human beings (as vectors and hosts), living in a physical, biological, social, and cultural environment, was crucial in bringing about a new history of disease and also much later in fueling the most recent ecological history. Toward the middle of the nineteenth century, the third wave of the disease broke out and, with the exception of Europe, it spread to all countries including Asia, Africa, and paradises like America and Australia, leaving remnants in many places. doi = 10.1016/b978-0-08-097086-8.62050-0 id = cord-023993-rncleqqy author = Ramírez, J. Martín title = Long-Lasting Solutions to the Problem of Migration in Europe date = 2020-03-12 keywords = Africa; Europe; Mediterranean; border; country; european; migrant; migration summary = In a previous publication on the refugee crisis in Europe and its security challenges, I concluded that a global problem like this one could not be solved without an adequate orderly, and controlled immigration policy, creating systematic and controlled arrival and integration programs, because the mental structure of European societies is not prepared to face a disorderly increase in migration flows (Ramirez 2017 (Ramirez , 2019 . A key move to avoid the "calling effect" is to guarantee security and economic agreements -migration control has to be paid with money-, with those countries migrants transit through in their way to Europe, preventing them from leaving its coasts and returning to their country of origin those people whose asylum in the EU has been denied. doi = 10.1007/978-3-030-43253-9_10 id = cord-259673-z7kvf8n8 author = Rogerson, Stephen J. title = Identifying and combating the impacts of COVID-19 on malaria date = 2020-07-30 keywords = Africa; COVID-19; control; malaria summary = These gains are largely attributable to expanding the distribution of insecticidetreated bed nets (ITNs), indoor spraying of residual insecticides (IRS) and other vector control strategies; access to early diagnosis (e.g. rapid diagnostic tests (RDTs)); and more effective antimalarial treatments [1] , together with targeted interventions such as intermittent preventive treatment in pregnancy (IPTp) and seasonal malaria chemoprevention (SMC). Key interventions and innovative approaches, such as targeted MDA programmes and enhanced distribution of ITNs, will be critical in preventing dramatic increases in malaria deaths [12] , but their implementation and prioritisation will bring logistic and financial challenges given COVID-19 disruptions and the competing needs of other health issues and services. To reduce the impact of COVID-19 disruptions, it is essential that the supply of diagnostics and treatments for malaria are maintained and that there is strong support of ITN distribution, IRS and other preventive interventions. Support malaria-endemic countries both in fighting COVID-19 disease and in controlling malaria through an integrated health care programme and community engagement. doi = 10.1186/s12916-020-01710-x id = cord-018239-n7axd9bq author = Rusoke-Dierich, Olaf title = Travel Medicine date = 2018-03-13 keywords = Africa; MERS; day; fever; symptom; treatment summary = The following topics should be included in the travel advice consultation: 5 Vaccinations (general and country specific) 5 Country-specific diseases 5 Malaria prophylaxis 5 Mosquito prophylaxis (wearing bright long-sleeved clothes, avoiding perfume, staying in air-conditioned rooms, using a mosquito net, using insect repellents, staying inside at dawn and dusk) 5 Food consumption and drinking overseas (no consumption of ice cubes, uncooked meals, salads and food, which is exposed to flies, limited alcohol consumption) 5 UV protection (using sun cream, avoiding sun exposure between 11.00 and 15.00 o'' clock, remaining in shaded areas, wearing a hat and covering skin) 5 Fitness assessment for travelling, flying and diving 5 Challenges of different climates and their effects on the personal health (dehydration, hyperthermia) 5 Medications 5 Thrombosis counselling 5 Counselling on symptoms on return, which require review (fever, skin changes, abnormal bleeding, lymphadenopathy, diarrhoea) 5 Sexual transmitted diseases 5 Contraception 5 Rabies doi = 10.1007/978-3-319-73836-9_32 id = cord-280030-neqycg6v author = Sewlall, Nivesh H. title = Clinical Features and Patient Management of Lujo Hemorrhagic Fever date = 2014-11-13 keywords = Africa; Lassa; Lujo; Patient; VHF summary = BACKGROUND: In 2008 a nosocomial outbreak of five cases of viral hemorrhagic fever due to a novel arenavirus, Lujo virus, occurred in Johannesburg, South Africa. Distinctive treatment components of the one surviving patient included rapid commencement of the antiviral drug ribavirin and administration of HMG-CoA reductase inhibitors (statins), N-acetylcysteine, and recombinant factor VIIa. CONCLUSIONS: Lujo virus causes a clinical syndrome remarkably similar to Lassa fever. We describe the clinical features of the five recognized cases of Lujo hemorrhagic fever (LHF) in the 2008 outbreak in South Africa and summarize their clinical management, as well as providing additional epidemiologic detail, with a focus on the risks for secondary transmission. In 2008, an outbreak of a novel hemorrhagic fever virus called Lujo occurred in Johannesburg, South Africa, with secondary transmission from the index patient to four healthcare workers. doi = 10.1371/journal.pntd.0003233 id = cord-011855-0vetk6jd author = Shayo, Elizabeth title = Ethical issues in intervention studies on the prevention and management of diabetes and hypertension in sub-Saharan Africa date = 2020-07-06 keywords = Africa; HIV summary = In particular, we consider what should the ethical approach be for a research programme in terms of provision of a steady and sustainable supply of medicines for patients with diabetes and hypertension when alternative affordable and accessible supplies are unavailable? ► Here we discuss what should the ethical approach be for a research programme in terms of provision of a steady and sustainable supply of medicines for patients with diabetes and hypertension. As well as the issue of inequity, observing people living with diabetes and hypertension unable to access medicines, which are both low-cost and effective, could break the ethical principle of beneficence, which states that researchers should have the welfare of the participants as a goal. Moreover, there are clear ethical issues if health facilities procure medicines to support a research programme without ensuring that this supply will be maintained after the study. doi = 10.1136/bmjgh-2019-002193 id = cord-303966-z6u3d2ec author = Shears, P. title = Poverty and infection in the developing world: Healthcare-related infections and infection control in the tropics date = 2007-10-22 keywords = Africa; hospital; infection summary = In many hospitals serving the poorest communities of Africa and other parts of the developing world, infection control activities are limited by poor infrastructure, overcrowding, inadequate hygiene and water supply, poorly functioning laboratory services and a shortage of trained staff. Summary In many hospitals serving the poorest communities of Africa and other parts of the developing world, infection control activities are limited by poor infrastructure, overcrowding, inadequate hygiene and water supply, poorly functioning laboratory services and a shortage of trained staff. Many medical journals are currently devoting part of their current issues to the themes of poverty and infection in the developing world, in recognition of the commitments made by the G8 Summit and the United Nations (UN) Millenium Development Goals (MDGs) to improve maternal healthcare, reduce childhood mortality and the impact of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)/ acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS), malaria and other communicable diseases. doi = 10.1016/j.jhin.2007.08.016 id = cord-022141-yxttl3gh author = Siegel, Frederic R. title = Progressive Adaptation: The Key to Sustaining a Growing Global Population date = 2014-08-23 keywords = Africa; HIV; disease; global; people; population; water summary = Adaptation by the global community as a unit is vital to cope with the effects of increasing populations, global warming/climate change, the chemical, biological, and physical impacts on life-sustaining ecosystems, and competition for life sustaining and economically important natural resources. The chronic malnutrition that about 1 billion people suffered from in 2013 is likely to grow in number in some regions due to global warming/climate change because humans cannot adapt to less food if they are already at subsistence rations. As the global population increases and more people in developing and less developed nations have more disposable income, there will be a growing draw on natural resources other than water and food to service their industrial, agricultural, and manufacturing needs and wants. The effects of higher temperatures from global warming and climate change included what has been discussed in previous chapters of this book: heat, drought, sea level rise, coastal zones, typhoons, flooding, river runoff, water availability, ecosystem shifts, crop yields, fishing, aquaculture, livestock, health and poverty, and tourism. doi = 10.1007/978-3-319-09686-5_9 id = cord-283756-ycjzitlk author = Simons, Robin R. L. title = Potential for Introduction of Bat-Borne Zoonotic Viruses into the EU: A Review date = 2014-05-16 keywords = Africa; Bangladesh; MARV; Nipah; bat; virus summary = Bat-borne viruses can pose a serious threat to human health, with examples including Nipah virus (NiV) in Bangladesh and Malaysia, and Marburg virus (MARV) in Africa. In assessing the risks of introduction of these bat-borne zoonotic viruses to the EU, it is important to consider the location and range of bat species known to be susceptible to infection, together with the virus prevalence, seasonality of viral pulses, duration of infection and titre of virus in different bat tissues. Bats are known to have varying degrees of contact with domestic animals and commercial food crops [20, 21] , in particular contact of Pteropus giganteus bats with date palm sap producing trees in Bangladesh is considered a risk factor for human NiV infection [22] . It can be seen that while recent human infections of both NiV and MARV appear to be limited in geographical range (the red areas in Figure 2 ), there are a number of countries where bats have been identified as having the virus, but no human infection has been reported. doi = 10.3390/v6052084 id = cord-325001-5zd6fydo author = Sinkala, M. title = The COVID-19 Pandemic in Africa: Predictions using the SIR Model Indicate the Cases are Falling date = 2020-06-03 keywords = Africa; covid-19 summary = title: The COVID-19 Pandemic in Africa: Predictions using the SIR Model Indicate the Cases are Falling To predict the spread of COVID-19 in Africa and within each country on the continent, we applied a Susceptible-Infectious-Recovered mathematical model. Here, our results show that, overall, Africa is currently (May 29, 2020) at the peak of the COVID-19 pandemic, after which we predict the number of cases would begin to fall in June 2020. Overall, at the end of this pandemic, we predict that approximately 279,000 (about 154,000 future cases) individuals in Africa would have been infected with the COVID-19 virus. Here, we use the SIR model to predict the spread of the COVID-19 positive cases on the African continent as a whole and in 45 different countries on the continent. Supplementary File 1: Predict cases of COVID-19 using the SIR model for each day across each country in Africa. doi = 10.1101/2020.06.01.20118893 id = cord-002757-upwe0cpj author = Sullivan, Kathleen E. title = Emerging Infections and Pertinent Infections Related to Travel for Patients with Primary Immunodeficiencies date = 2017-08-07 keywords = Africa; CNS; Europe; HIV; Leishmania; PCR; PIDD; USA; disease; infection; patient; severe; virus summary = The first section addresses general considerations, the second section profiles specific infections organized according to mechanism of transmission, and the third section focuses on unique phenotypes and unique susceptibilities in patients with PIDDs. This review does not address most parasitic diseases. In developing countries where polio is still endemic and oral polio vaccine is essential for eradicating the disease, it is of utmost importance that all PIDD patients and family members should not receive live oral polio (OPV) because of the reported prolonged excretion of the virus for months and even years [24] . As for host factors, although severe and fatal cases have been described in healthy immunocompetent hosts [129, 130] , there is evidence to suggest that children under the age of 10 [130] and immunocompromised hosts either secondary to hematologic malignancies, immunosuppressant treatment for organ transplantation, or HIV infection are at a greater risk to develop more severe disease with higher case fatality rates [131, 132] . doi = 10.1007/s10875-017-0426-2 id = cord-321340-hwds5rja author = Sun, H. title = Importations of COVID-19 into African countries and risk of onward spread date = 2020-05-24 keywords = Africa; Europe summary = As new epicentres in Europe and America have arisen, of particular concern is the increased number of imported coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) cases in Africa, where the impact of the pandemic could be more severe. We aim to estimate the number 16 of COVID-19 cases imported from 12 major epicentres in Europe and America to each African 17 country, as well as the probability of reaching 10,000 infections in total by the end of March, April, 18 and May following viral introduction. We aim to estimate the number 16 of COVID-19 cases imported from 12 major epicentres in Europe and America to each African 17 country, as well as the probability of reaching 10,000 infections in total by the end of March, April, 18 and May following viral introduction. doi = 10.1101/2020.05.22.20110304 id = cord-330779-mso2zfom author = Sunkari, Emmanuel Daanoba title = Sources and routes of SARS-CoV-2 transmission in water systems in Africa: Are there any sustainable remedies? date = 2020-09-09 keywords = Africa; SARS; water summary = Hence, it is proposed that governments in Africa must put measures like improved WASH facilities and public awareness campaigns, suburbanization of wastewater treatment facilities, utilizing low-cost point-of-use water treatment systems, legally backed policy interventions, and Community-Led Total Sanitation (CLTS). Overall, since most of the people living in Africa, especially those dwelling in rural and peri-urban settlements depend on surface and groundwater resources for their domestic water supply, the risk of contracting COVID-19 through SARS-CoV-2 contaminated water is very high and thus, the sources and routes of community spread of the virus, which is currently being reported must be critically re-examined. Since most of the people living in Africa, especially those dwelling in rural and peri-urban settlements depend on surface and groundwater resources for their domestic water supply, the risk of contracting COVID-19 through SARS-CoV-2 contaminated water from wastewater systems is very high. doi = 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2020.142298 id = cord-354590-vipfgvgh author = Sylvester, Steven P. title = Festuca drakensbergensis (Poaceae): A common new species in the F. caprina complex from the Drakensberg Mountain Centre of Floristic Endemism, southern Africa, with key and notes on taxa in the complex including the overlooked F. exaristata date = 2020-10-07 keywords = Africa; Afro; DMC; Festuca summary = We present taxonomic notes on the Festuca caprina complex from southern Africa that includes description and illustration of the new species F. exaristata – currently known from two collections from Lesotho − by its fibrous basal sheaths, usually sharp, keel-like leaf blade midrib, drooping panicle with lightly to densely scabrous pendent panicle branches, longer lemmas, 4.5−5.8 mm long, with awns usually present, 0.5–3 mm long, ovary apices sparsely to densely hairy and anthers 0.8−1.6(−1.8) mm long. Differs from Festuca exaristata by its basal sheaths fibrous, leaf blade midrib usually sharp, keel-like, sometimes blunt and rounded, panicle branches pendent, lightly to densely scabrous, lowermost lemma (not including awn) 4.5−5.8 mm long, awn usually present, 0.5-3 mm long, ovary apex sparsely to densely hairy and anthers 0.8−1.6(−1.8) mm long. doi = 10.3897/phytokeys.162.55550 id = cord-280331-iu2e14jo author = Taboe, Hémaho B. title = Predicting COVID-19 spread in the face of control measures in West-Africa date = 2020-07-29 keywords = Africa; West; covid-19; disease summary = Considering currently applied health control measures, numerical simulations of the model using baseline parameter values estimated from West-African COVID-19 data project a 67% reduction in the daily number of cases when the epidemic attains its peak. We conclude that curtailing the COVID-19 pandemic burden significantly in West-Africa requires more control measures than those that have already been implemented, as well as more mass testing and contact tracing in order to identify and isolate asymptomatic individuals early. Heat maps were plotted to investigate the individual and combined effects of pairs of control measures such as contact tracing, isolation, and using control measures that lead to a reduction in disease transmission, e.g., lockdowns, social and physical distancing, mask use, etc., on COVID-19 in West-Africa (Fig. 4) . doi = 10.1016/j.mbs.2020.108431 id = cord-297077-p604vvbi author = Tai, Dar‐In title = A global perspective on hepatitis B‐related single nucleotide polymorphisms and evolution during human migration date = 2017-11-06 keywords = Africa; Asia; HBV summary = To understand the evolution of HBV‐related single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) and to correlate these SNPs with chronic HBV infection among different populations, we conducted a global perspective study on hepatitis‐related SNPs. We selected 12 HBV‐related SNPs on the HLA locus and two HBV and three hepatitis C virus immune‐related SNPs for analysis. Based on the data from 1,000 genomes collected worldwide, we conducted a global perspective study on the allele frequency of hepatitis-related SNPs. Based on a literature review, 12 HBV-and HLArelated SNPs, (7) (8) (9) (10) (11) (12) (13) five hepatitis-and immune-related SNPs in complement factor B (CFB), clusters of differentiation molecule 40 (CD40), and interferon lambda 4 (IFNL4) loci (14) (15) (16) (17) (18) , and five nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC)-related SNPs in HLA regions (19) (20) (21) were selected for this analysis (Tables 1 and 2 ). doi = 10.1002/hep4.1113 id = cord-266225-mqbud21t author = Tambo, Ernest title = Can free open access resources strengthen knowledge-based emerging public health priorities, policies and programs in Africa? date = 2016-05-09 keywords = Africa; FOA; health summary = The strength of scaling FOA in developing countries will entail but not limited to: 1) increasing real time and effective knowledge-or evidence-based translation of proven and validated approaches, 2) strategies and tools in strengthening health systems and revamping early and timely access to much needed information by policy-makers, and 3) enhanced guided health financing and capacity development by health institutions and related stakeholders, and strengthening contextual programs and activities planning, transparency and accountability. This paper assesses the values and benefits of open, free of charge data and information access and availability in strengthening health systems policies, financing, promoting knowledge-based programs and targeted interventions directed to forecast, prevent, reduce and/or manage the growing emerging threats and epidemics as well as infectious diseases of poverty in LMICs, especially in Africa. doi = 10.12688/f1000research.8662.1 id = cord-266415-8w5elfro author = Tambo, Ernest title = Need of surveillance response systems to combat Ebola outbreaks and other emerging infectious diseases in African countries date = 2014-08-05 keywords = Africa; EVD; Ebola summary = For the purposes of this paper, five have been identified: (i) the deficiency in the development and implementation of surveillance response systems against Ebola and others infectious disease outbreaks in Africa; (ii) the lack of education and knowledge resulting in an EVD outbreak triggering panic, anxiety, psychosocial trauma, isolation and dignity impounding, stigmatisation, community ostracism and resistance to associated socio-ecological and public health consequences; (iii) limited financial resources, human technical capacity and weak community and national health system operational plans for prevention and control responses, practices and management; (iv) inadequate leadership and coordination; and (v) the lack of development of new strategies, tools and approaches, such as improved diagnostics and novel therapies including vaccines which can assist in preventing, controlling and containing Ebola outbreaks as well as the spread of the disease. doi = 10.1186/2049-9957-3-29 id = cord-300605-gozt5aur author = Tambo, Ernest title = Acquired immunity and asymptomatic reservoir impact on frontline and airport ebola outbreak syndromic surveillance and response date = 2014-10-29 keywords = Africa; Ebola; disease; surveillance summary = Yet, taming the dynamics and plague of the vicious Ebola virus disease (EVD) in African countries has been patchy and erratic due to inadequate surveillance and contact tracing, community defiance and resistance, a lack of detection and response systems, meager/weak knowledge and information on the disease, inadequacies in protective materials protocols, contact tracing nightmare and differing priorities at various levels of the public health system. (8)Digital or electronic bio-epidemiology surveillance systems, including social media networking and web-based systems, provide valuable channels for timely collection of public health data; give information on the early detection of, and response to, disease outbreaks; and enhance situational awareness to communities. (2)This approach is confronted by a lack of effective and accurate spot invasive frontline and airport rapid diagnostics tools, district and provincial health laboratories being equipped with little or no advanced molecular technologies, lack of drugs and vaccines to treat Ebola, inadequacy in coordinated Ebola frontline planning efforts in the community, as well inefficient or nonexistent community and national active infectious disease surveillance systems. doi = 10.1186/2049-9957-3-41 id = cord-314205-6d5yloxp author = Tambo, Ernest title = China-Africa Health Development Initiatives: Benefits and Implications for Shaping Innovative and Evidence-informed National Health Policies and Programs in Sub-saharan African Countries date = 2016 keywords = Africa; China; Health; chinese; cooperation; development summary = CONCLUSIONS AND GLOBAL HEALTH IMPLICATIONS: Strengthening China-Africa health development agenda towards collective commitment and investment in quality care delivery, effective programs coverage and efficiency, preparedness and emergency response is needed in transforming African health information systems, and local health governance structures and management in emerging epidemics. Published papers on Chinese foreign diplomacy and policy reports and previous Chinese literature in relation to infectious diseases prevention and control and elimination programs, research and funding were reviewed to trace international health cooperation actions, information communication and strategies including Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC) declarations on health development in 2013 and 2015 in Beijing and Cape Town respectively. Investing in priorities health needs, economic and political, scientific and technological development and empowerment inequalities should be addressed through this win-win mutual partnership with institutions and other international stakeholders in line with global health engagement in infectious and emerging diseases and epidemics especially in Africa and China. doi = nan id = cord-353185-aapg75af author = Tambo, Ernest title = The value of China-Africa health development initiatives in strengthening “One Health” strategy date = 2019-09-24 keywords = Africa; China; Ebola; Health; chinese summary = Building the value of China-Africa "One Health" strategy partnerships, frameworks and capacity development and implementation through leveraging on current and innovative China-Africa health initiatives, but also, mobilizing efforts on climatic changes and disasters mitigation and lifestyle adaptations strategies against emerging and current infectious diseases threats are essential to establish epidemic surveillance-response system under the concept of global collaborative coordination and lasting financing mechanisms. Africa CDC focus on strategic priority areas and innovative programs aiming at improving evidence-based decision making and practice in event-based capacity development for surveillance, disease prediction, and improved functional clinical and public health laboratory networks and actions in minimizing health inequalities, and promoting quality care delivery, public health emergency preparedness and response best practices in achieving regional [1, 4, 10] . doi = 10.1016/s2414-6447(19)30062-4 id = cord-302813-963ypqow author = Tegally, H. title = Major new lineages of SARS-CoV-2 emerge and spread in South Africa during lockdown. date = 2020-10-30 keywords = Africa; SARS; South summary = Through the unprecedented sharing of SARS-CoV-2 sequences during this pandemic, including from one of the first cases in Wuhan, China (MN908947.3) 2 , genomic epidemiology investigations globally are playing a major role in characterizing and understanding this emerging virus [4] [5] [6] [7] [8] [9] . The profile of SARS-CoV-2 epidemiological progression in South Africa was largely influenced by the implementation of lockdown measures in the early phases of the epidemic and the subsequent easing of these measures. We focused on the three largest monophyletic lineage clusters (C.1, B.1.1.54, B.1.1.56,) that spread in South Africa during lockdown and then grew into large transmission clusters during the peak infections phase of the epidemic (Fig 1C) . Our analysis therefore shows that a number of SARS-CoV-2 lineages, each with unique mutations, emerged within localized epidemics during lockdown even as the introduction of new lineages from outside South Africa was being curbed. doi = 10.1101/2020.10.28.20221143 id = cord-023168-cd7adns8 author = Thachil, Jecko title = Haematological Diseases in the Tropics date = 2013-10-21 keywords = Africa; G6PD; HIV; SCD; anaemia; blood; cell; deficiency; disease; haemoglobin; infection; iron; patient; transfusion; treatment summary = The most useful laboratory measure of iron status Low value is diagnostic in the presence of anaemia Very high values (>100 µg/L) usually exclude iron deficiency'' Being an acute-phase protein, it increases in inflammatory conditions, and certain malignancies, making it unreliable Also increased in tissue damage especially of the liver Levels are falsely decreased in vitamin C deficiency and hypothyroidism Erythrocyte zinc protoporphyrin An intermediate in haem biosynthesis and elevated concentrations indicate interrupted haem synthesis due to iron deficiency when zinc is incorporated in place of iron Can be measured on a drop of blood with a portable haematofluorometer Small sample size makes it very useful as a screening test in field surveys, particularly in children, and pregnant women where inflammatory states may not co-exist Red cells should be washed before measurement (serum bilirubin and fluorescent compounds like some drugs can give falsely high values) although not often done Lead poisoning can give falsely high values Rarely acute myeloid leukaemia and sideroblastic anaemia give slightly high values Useful in that it is not increased in thalassaemias WHO recommends normal level >70 µmol/mol haem Iron studies Serum iron concentration represents the iron entering and leaving the circulation. doi = 10.1016/b978-0-7020-5101-2.00066-2 id = cord-312759-py2d4rjq author = Thiaw, Ibrahima title = Archaeology of Two Pandemics and Teranga Aesthetic date = 2020-08-25 keywords = Africa; Senegal; covid-19; senegalese summary = Building on archaeology''s multiple contributions to Africa''s past and observed practices of resilience in Senegal by ordinary people in the face of the spread of COVID-19, this essay reflects on the relevance of the archives, including the archaeological record, as usable resources for managing the problems of our times. S''appuyant sur les multiples contributions de l''archéologie pour la connaissance du passé de l''Afrique et sur les pratiques de résilience observées au Sénégal par les individus ordinaires face à la propagaOur contemporary moment is plagued by two major pandemics: COVID-19 on the one hand and racism and coloniality on the other. A few days before the Mira-Locht exchange, there had been an ecstatic reaction to the March 27 prediction of Antonio Guterres, the United Nations General Secretary, on France 24 television channel and Radio France International (RFI), that "even if the population [in Africa] is younger than in developed countries, there will be necessarily millions of deaths" on the continent due to the COVID-19 pandemic (France 24 2020a, b). doi = 10.1007/s10437-020-09403-9 id = cord-340194-ibli36rq author = To, Kelvin K.W. title = Ebola virus disease: a highly fatal infectious disease reemerging in West Africa date = 2014-11-29 keywords = Africa; EVD; Ebola; ebolavirus; outbreak; virus summary = Ebolavirus has been known to cause outbreaks of severe hemorrhagic fever with high fatality in Africa since 1976 [1] . Zaire and Sudan ebolavirus are responsible for most outbreaks, and these species are associated with highest case-fatality rates, ranging from 44e100% and 41e69%, respectively. In addition to clinically apparent EVD outbreaks, seroepidemiology studies showed that there is a high prevalence seropositive individuals, suggesting that asymptomatic or mild infection can occur [15] . The only human case of ebolavirus infection in West Africa before the 2014 outbreak occurred 20 years ago. During the 1976 EVD outbreak, the index case had transmitted the virus to healthcare workers and hospitalized patients with at least 15 generations of person-to-person transmission [29] . Human fatal zaire ebola virus infection is associated with an aberrant innate immunity and with massive lymphocyte apoptosis Analysis of human peripheral blood samples from fatal and nonfatal cases of Ebola (Sudan) hemorrhagic fever: cellular responses, virus load, and nitric oxide levels doi = 10.1016/j.micinf.2014.11.007 id = cord-263371-1ozoq3hb author = Togun, Toyin title = Anticipating the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on TB patients and TB control programmes date = 2020-05-23 keywords = Africa; COVID-19 summary = Tuberculosis remains a global health emergency and needs our attention more than ever, given that significant resources are now being diverted to COVID-19 management. We discussed issues of how COVID-19 would affect control programmes: prioritisation of services, availability of drugs, the effect on hard-to-reach and low-income communities and the role of stigmatisation, how paediatric TB disease might be affected, the possibility of increased disease transmission or disease susceptibility, and the problems caused by likely co-morbidity. COVID-19 will potentially worsen patient care and TB control efforts in Africa, given the likely negative impact of the pandemic at the macroeconomic, health system and individual levels in Africa. The majority of children in LMIC are not seen by dedicated paediatric specialists, and many general physicians and nurses usually available for their care will be seconded to dealing with adult patients affected by severe respiratory symptoms of COVID-19 instead. doi = 10.1186/s12941-020-00363-1 id = cord-312954-pnmycagi author = Tola, Monday title = Molecular detection of drug resistant polymorphisms in Plasmodium falciparum isolates from Southwest, Nigeria date = 2020-10-27 keywords = Africa; Pfk13; Plasmodium summary = This study describes mutations in Plasmodium falciparum genes associated with drug resistance in malaria; Pfk13, Pfmdr1, PfATPase6 and Pfcrt in isolates obtained from 83 symptomatic malaria patients collected in August 2014, aged 1–61 years old from South-west Nigeria. Drug resistance of malaria parasites to previously efficacious first line chemotherapies, chloroquine (CQ) and sulfadoxine-pyrimethamine (SP), in sub-Saharan Africa (sSA), led to replacement with artemisinin combination therapies (ACT), and complete removal of CQ [1, 2] . This study describes the molecular prevalence of mutations in the drug resistant genes Pfk13, Pfmdr1, PfATPase6 and Pfcrt from P. Alleles of Pfk13 propeller domain polymorphisms (Y493H, R539T, I543T, C580Y), and PfATPase6 (S679S, M699V, S769M) associated with delayed clearance were determined by Taqman allelic discrimination and sequencing and list of primers used provided in Additional file 1: (Tables S1, 2 ). falciparum drug resistance genes; Pfcrt, Pfmdr1, PfATPase6 and Pfk13 that have been implicated in reduced ACT efficacy [2, 3, 9, 14] . doi = 10.1186/s13104-020-05334-5 id = cord-325300-wawui0fd author = Tulchinsky, Theodore H. title = 4 Communicable Diseases date = 2000-12-31 keywords = AIDS; Africa; America; HIV; Health; OPV; States; United; World; case; control; disease; person; vaccine summary = No less important are organized programs to promote self protection, case finding, and effective treatment of infections to stop their spread to other susceptible persons (e.g., HIV, sexually transmitted diseases, tuberculosis, malaria). Very great progress has been made in infectious disease control by clinical, public health, and societal means since 1900 in the industrialized countries and since the 1970s in the developing world. The WHO in 1998 has declared hepatitis prevention as a major public health crisis, with an estimated 170 million persons infected worldwide (1996) , stressing that this "silent epidemic" is being neglected and that screening of blood products is vital to reduce transmission of this disease as for HIu HCV is a major cause of chronic cirrhosis and liver cancer. Varicella vaccine is now recommended for routine immunization at age 12-18 months in the United States, with catch-up for children up to age 13 years and for occupationally exposed persons in health or child care settings. doi = 10.1016/b978-012703350-1/50006-1 id = cord-335191-rxypdzri author = Umaru, Farouk A. title = Scaling up testing for COVID-19 in Africa: Responding to the pandemic in ways that strengthen health systems date = 2020-05-14 keywords = Africa summary = As of 08 April 2020, more than 48 different in vitro diagnostic devices for COVID-19 diagnosis were listed on the World Health Organization website under the International Medical Devices Regulatory Forum jurisdiction as having received Emergency Use Authorization (EUA) from nine countries, with China authorising 19 devices or technologies (including antibody test kits). But, should African regulatory agencies or the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) begin to issue EUAs for emerging technologies, with limited validation information in response to the COVID-19 pandemic? African Union Member States, through the efforts of Africa CDC and partners, have received technical support to use existing real-time polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) instruments to conduct testing, mostly at national reference or equivalent laboratories. Leveraging existing RT-PCR instruments for COVID-19 diagnosis is an important step in strengthening health systems on the continent for future emergency pandemics. doi = 10.4102/ajlm.v9i1.1244 id = cord-323676-sp8kys0n author = Valensisi, Giovanni title = COVID-19 and Global Poverty: Are LDCs Being Left Behind? date = 2020-10-21 keywords = Africa; COVID-19; IMF; World; poverty summary = Using growth forecasts from various vintages of the World Bank''s Global Economic Prospects (and in some cases from the International Monetary Fund -IMF), other authors find that COVID-19 could trigger an increase in the number of people living below US$1.90/day by 40-100 million (Gerszon Mahler et al. In the second step, the above growth rates, pre-and post-COVID-19, are utilized to ''line up'' the corresponding poverty estimates using PovcalNet, the World Bank''s computational tool, which draws on more than 1500 household surveys from 164 countries and contains the official estimates of poverty at country, regional, and global levels. Focusing on the US$3.20 per day poverty line, South Asia is likely to suffer by far the largest slump, entailing a rise of nearly 4 percentage points in the headcount ratio, equivalent to 74 million additional poor, compared with what would have occurred if the pre-COVID-19 growth forecasts had materialized (Fig. 4) . doi = 10.1057/s41287-020-00314-8 id = cord-009765-v20r44lr author = Vasan, Aditya title = Medical Devices for Low- and Middle-Income Countries: A Review and Directions for Development date = 2020-03-01 keywords = Africa; Burkholderia; Melioidosis; Pseudomallei; disease; lead summary = Specifically, this review focuses on diseases prevalent in sub-Saharan Africa and south Asia: melioidosis, infant and maternal mortality, schistosomiasis, and heavy metal and pesticide poisoning. Keywords used to identify diseases and technologies included, but were not limited to, the following terms: medical devices, low-cost design, global health, low-income countries, low-and middle-income countries, pointof-care diagnostics, neglected tropical diseases (NTD), neonatal mortality. The number of people worldwide affected by heavy metal poisoning is difficult to estimate due to the varying sources of poisoning but, given that incidents like the one in Flint that occurred in a developed country with safeguards in place to prevent lead poisoning, there is a need to estimate atmospheric and water-based heavy metal exposure risks across the world. The World Health Organization (WHO) estimates that 3 Â 10 6 severe pesticide poisonings occur annually and that at least 300,000 people die as a result of exposure, with 99% of these cases being from LMICs [51] . doi = 10.1115/1.4045910 id = cord-305394-wwabxlgr author = Venter, W D Francois title = COVID-19: First data from Africa date = 2020-08-31 keywords = Africa; HIV summary = This data is from an ongoing surveillance cohort that has previously generated rich data on disease patterns in the Western Cape, and currently continues to provide near real-time updates on the impact of PCR-confirmed SARS-CoV-2 on factors ranging from death to oxygen consumption within hospitals. Key strengths of the paper include a dataset covering over 3 million healthcare users in the Western Cape Province, and the use of both hospitalized and nonhospitalized cases and deaths Davies'' data shows similar mortality risk factors, including age, sex, diabetes (especially uncontrolled diabetes), hypertension and renal disease to other cohorts from richer countries. For South Africa, a sigh of relief at a relatively small increase in mortality in HIV and TB should be quickly tempered; diabetes was the second commonest cause of death in the country pre-COVID-19, and most patients in the country have poor glucose control, a major risk factor from Davies'' data (7) . doi = 10.1093/cid/ciaa1293 id = cord-258150-ezatw341 author = Vilakati, Phesheya Ndumiso title = The neglected role of Faith-based Organizations in prevention and control of COVID-19 in Africa date = 2020-08-27 keywords = Africa; COVID-19 summary = Especially in the sub-Saharan countries, COVID-19 may have devastating effects as the response required is challenged by inherent fragilities in the national health systems, high population density in metropolitan slums, a lack of services in rural settings, generally poor sanitation, food insecurity and undernutrition, as well as the high burden of comorbidities such as HIV infection and tuberculosis. In the African continent, preparedness for a pandemic like COVID-19 is a challenge given the need for rapid adaptation of already constrained health systems, scarcity of laboratories and reagents to test, limited training capacity, and poverty of resources in care provision and in general. However, due to the general shortage in PPE, diagnostic kits, and effective therapeutic options in countries like Ethiopia and eSwatini, most funds and key supply and equipment may be directed to governmental facilities rather than engaging the numerous FBOs and other non-governmental organizations (NGOs) providing care. doi = 10.1093/trstmh/traa073 id = cord-306798-f28264k3 author = Walsh, Geraldine M. title = Blood-Borne Pathogens: A Canadian Blood Services Centre for Innovation Symposium date = 2016-02-23 keywords = Africa; CBS; Canada; Ebola; NGS; WNV; blood; dna summary = Transfusion services can employ indirect measures such as surveillance, hemovigilance, and donor questioning (defense), protein-, or nucleic acid based direct testing (detection), or pathogen inactivation of blood products (destruction) as strategies to mitigate the risk of transmission-transmitted infection. Cost concerns make it likely that pathogen inactivation will be contemplated by blood operators through the lens of health economics and risk-based decision making, rather than in zero-risk paradigms previously embraced for transfusable products. Dr Margaret Fearon, CBS Medical Director, Medical Microbiology, and Assistant Professor, University of Toronto, discussed the current prevalence of classical transfusion-transmissible infections (TTIs) in CBS blood donors, new and emerging infectious diseases, how CBS prepares for and manages new risks, and also addressed new paradigms for risk management. Other transfusion-transmissible diseases are currently being monitored as potential emerging threats to the safety of the blood supply, including babesiosis, hepatitis E, CHIKV, and dengue virus. doi = 10.1016/j.tmrv.2016.02.003 id = cord-345662-vm5btiue author = Walwyn, David R. title = Turning points for sustainability transitions: Institutional destabilization, public finance and the techno-economic dynamics of decarbonization in South Africa date = 2020-10-03 keywords = Africa; South; budget; change; policy; transition summary = Based on a study of South Africa''s budget processes, it is concluded that change will only occur when four separate pre-conditions converge, namely a rapidly growing environmental problem capable of leading to civil unrest, a supportive and recently developed policy framework, decreasing techno-economic costs for its solution, and strong political support from an effective ministry or minister. Although there are several publications on green financing within South Africa, such as its broader challenges and necessary design features [23] and the role that public financial intermediaries have already played in the country''s energy transition [24] , there have been no specific studies on how to mobilise and reorient government expenditure for sustainability transitions, and particularly the decarbonisation of its energy sector. doi = 10.1016/j.erss.2020.101784 id = cord-293379-c4qdmkw5 author = Weiss, Robin A title = HIV and AIDS: looking ahead date = 2003 keywords = AIDS; Africa; HIV; HIV-1 summary = Fifteen years ago, AIDS in South Africa was seen in a handful of gay white men who had traveled to the United States, but now more than four million South African black men, women and children are infected with HIV. 19 argue in this issue, much has been accomplished in reducing the transmission of HIV and, given politi-cal will, persuasive ''risk'' education and sufficient resources, "the science exists to turn the pandemic around." Certainly, the continuing spread of disease could be slowed significantly, as has been seen in Senegal, Thailand and Uganda, but whether without an efficacious vaccine we can reduce R 0 to less than onethat is, reduce the mean rate of transmission from one infected person to less than one other personremains speculative. Infected sheep develop a wasting disease and neurodegeneration similar to that seen in humans with AIDS, but they do not show T-helper-cell immune deficiency. doi = 10.1038/nm0703-887 id = cord-290347-q6r6g7ue author = Williams, Lloyd B. title = Impact and Trends in Global Ophthalmology date = 2020-06-22 keywords = Africa; retinopathy; study summary = A key finding of this study was that the AI system was able to identify disease in an African cohort with high sensitivity and specificity even though the system was trained on patients of Asian origin from the Singapore Integrated Diabetic Retinopathy Program. To our knowledge, a prospective study of glaucoma detection via AI has yet to be published from the setting of the developing world, though it is foreseeable that a low-cost implantation of this technology may aid eye care professionals in the early diagnosis and treatment of glaucoma (Fig. 1a) . Global estimates on the number of people blind or visually impaired by diabetic retinopathy: a meta-analysis from Incidence and progression of diabetic retinopathy in sub-Saharan Africa: a five-year cohort study Artificial intelligence using deep learning to screen for referable and vision-threatening diabetic retinopathy in Africa: a clinical validation study doi = 10.1007/s40135-020-00245-x id = cord-269362-pne9qolr author = Yassi, Annalee title = Collaboration between infection control and occupational health in three continents: a success story with international impact date = 2011-11-08 keywords = Africa; Ecuador; South; health summary = Post-SARS, Canadian occupational health and infection control researchers got together to study how to better protect health workers, and found that training was indeed perceived as key to a positive safety culture. As the H1N1 pandemic struck, the online infection control course was adapted and translated into Spanish, as was a novel skill-building learning tool that permits health workers to practice selecting personal protective equipment. This international collaboration between occupational health and infection control researchers led to the improvement of the research framework and development of tools, guidelines and information systems. The workplace audit tool, developed originally in Canada by the team (comprised of experts in program evaluation, infection control, occupational health, information technology, public health and medicine), and refined from use in Ecuador and South Africa, was again adapted and workshops held to train occupational health and infection control practitioners from 7 countries across the Caribbean. doi = 10.1186/1472-698x-11-s2-s8 id = cord-336168-hvp13ell author = Yazdanbakhsh, Maria title = Influenza in Africa date = 2009-12-15 keywords = Africa; influenza summary = Maria Yazdanbakhsh and Peter Kremsner argue that there needs to be better awareness, surveillance, and clinical management of common febrile diseases in Africa, especially influenza. In tropical Africa, malaria is an important infectious disease and is still thought to be the main cause of febrile episodes in children. In addition, in Tanzania where malaria is considered to be highly endemic, D''Acremont and coworkers refer to recent data indicating that only 10%-40% of under-5year-old patients with fever have malarial parasites in rural areas [19] . Examining symptomatic individuals with recent history of travel to countries where the H1N1 virus was circulating indicated that other respiratory viruses such as rhinovirus, coronavirus, or parainfluenzavirus were responsible for influenza-like illness [20] . Therefore, not surprisingly, yet often ignored, there is simultaneous transmission of different respiratory viruses and bacteria in addition to malaria that lead to febrile illnesses in Africa and elsewhere in the tropics. doi = 10.1371/journal.pmed.1000182 id = cord-309931-cpzp33b3 author = Zawawi, Ayat title = The impact of COVID-19 pandemic on malaria elimination date = 2020-10-20 keywords = Africa; SARS; covid-19 summary = As lowand middle-income countries shift increasingly to focus on identifying and treating COVID-19, questions are emerging about the impact this shift in focus will have on ongoing efforts to control other infectious diseases, such as malaria. This review discusses how the spread of SARS-CoV-2 in lowand middle-income countries might impact these efforts, focusing in particular on the effects of co-infection and the use of antimalarial drugs used to treat malaria as therapeutic interventions for COVID-19. This review addresses this gap in the literature by discussing how the spread of SARS-CoV-2 in low-and middle-income countries might impact efforts to control malaria. Despite the CQ and HCQ treatment potential for COVID-19, the use of these two drugs could pose many challenges in low-and middle-income countries and not just in malaria-endemic areas. doi = 10.1016/j.parepi.2020.e00187 id = cord-286411-7sgr29xx author = Zhou, Zibanai title = Critical shifts in the global tourism industry: perspectives from Africa date = 2020-10-06 keywords = Africa; BRICS; UNWTO; global; international; market; study; tourism summary = Drawing upon a sample of thirty tourism experts in southern Africa, the critical shifts were identified and key among them include BRICS, terrorism, ageing population, and trophy hunting, are increasingly framing a new narrative for the future growth trajectory of the international tourism industry''s value chain in the context of Africa. Whilst acknowledging the diverse and richness of the current international tourism body of literature, the current study argues that very little attempts have been made to explore the policy and product development implications of the constructs of BRICS, terrorism, ageing population and trophy hunting in the context of Africa. Looking into the future, there is substantial room for growth in Africa''s travel and tourism market, particularly in light of current sectoral growth patterns, as international tourists are increasingly interested in developing countries as travel destinations, provide the region properly align its tourism sector to dynamics obtaining in the marketplace. doi = 10.1007/s10708-020-10297-y