To expedite the end-to-end integration of influenza and SARS-CoV-2 surveillance, the WHO Ethiopia Country Office and the WHO Regional Office for Africa organized a two-week on-site laboratory training course for staff of the National Influenza Centre, Ethiopia Public Health Institute, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.

The course provided hands-on training and an in-depth understanding of next-generation sequencing (NGS), data analysis, and sharing of genetic data to public-access databases. The training also significantly increased the SARS-CoV-2 sample throughput with improvement in data quality, bioinformatic analysis and the processing of information.

Held at the Ethiopia Public Health Institute (EPHI) in Addis Ababa from 5-16 December 2022, the training was part of WHO Global Influenza Programme (GIP) support to national influenza laboratories in the WHO African Region.

Over the past two years, the GIP has leveraged the capacities of Global Influenza Surveillance and Response System (GISRS) laboratories to incorporate SARS CoV-2 testing into influenza sentinel surveillance testing. SARS CoV-2 surveillance, as part of influenza surveillance, allows for the global respiratory disease surveillance system to monitor organisms with pandemic potential. In 2021, GIP selected influenza laboratories in nine countries in the WHO African Region (Algeria, Cameroon, Cote d'Ivoire Ghana, Ethiopia, Sierra Leone, Kenya, Madagascar, and Mauritania) to participate in a project to expedite integration of SARS-CoV-2 into influenza surveillance.