West African laboratory scientists have gathered in Lome, Togo, to sound an alarm: health systems across the region are weakening, and the next major outbreak could arrive without anyone seeing it coming.
The scientists met this week to discuss the region’s readiness for disease outbreaks and its dependence on vaccines from Western countries. Their message is blunt. They want governments to stop waiting for epidemics to emerge and start investing in the tools that spot them early.
“We need to anticipate these outbreaks,” said Kossi Kabo, the head of the Association of Medical Biologists of Togo and a co-chair of the congress. “We shouldn’t wait for an epidemic to emerge somewhere before responding. By then, it would be too late.”
Warning From Lome
The scientists are not new to this work. They have watched Ebola and COVID-19 tear through the region in recent years, and they know what happens when detection fails.
Their gathering in Lome comes at a moment when the world is still dealing with a fast-moving Ebola outbreak in Congo. That outbreak has killed over 3,600 people among nearly 7,500 cases since mid-May, when Congolese authorities announced a fresh deadly Ebola outbreak.
What the Region Has Already Suffered
The region has faced major outbreaks before. Between 2014 and 2016, an Ebola outbreak killed at least 11,000 people across West Africa, overwhelmingly in Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone.
That toll was devastating, and it reshaped how the region responds to disease. But the lesson has not stuck everywhere. The scientists say health systems have weakened in the absence of a major crisis, and they fear the region is now unprepared for the next wave.
The Spread Without Detection
The Bundibugyo virus has spread quickly and without being spotted for weeks. The Africa Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said the tolls are likely three times the official figures, and the outbreak is already history’s fastest-spreading Ebola outbreak.
Also, Hantavirus was detected on a cruise ship that docked in the Atlantic off Cape Verde in May. These are separate events, but they share a common thread: outbreaks that moved before anyone knew they were moving.
Why Early Detection Matters
Early detection is the difference between a contained outbreak and a regional disaster. The scientists want governments to cooperate on disease detection and invest in diagnostic capacities.
Kabo’s warning is direct. He wants the region to respond before an epidemic emerges, not after it has taken hold.
The People Problem
Arthur Bodurie Calvin Garber, president of the Sierra Leone Association of Medical Laboratory Scientists, made a specific point about the human side of health systems. He said the governments must also invest in people as much as infrastructure.
Garber’s point is that health systems depend on both:
- Equipment
- Skilled staff
What the Region Needs Now
The scientists are asking for sustained investment, not a one-time response to a headline. They want governments to build systems that work even when there is no visible crisis.
The warning from Lome is not hypothetical. It is based on what has already happened.
The Risk Ahead
Africa as a whole remains at risk for outbreaks. The Bundibugyo virus continues to spread, and the Hantavirus detection in Cape Verde shows that diseases can move far before they are noticed.
The Bottom Line
The warning from Lome is a call to action. The scientists are asking governments to build the capacity that will let them see outbreaks before they become crises.
Whether that message gets answered is another question. The region has faced major outbreaks before, and it has survived them. But surviving is not the same as preparing.
The warning is on the record.
Source material: “Scientists warn of weakening health systems and urge stronger outbreak detection,” ABC News.
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