Evidence map›Paper›PMID 41354839›Full record

ReviewOne health outlook2025

Viral zoonotic disease outbreaks and response strategies in Sub-Saharan Africa: a scoping review.

Sherihane Aryeetey, Philip El-Duah, Jonathan Mawutor Gmanyami, George Agyei, Augustina Angelina Sylverken, Rexford Mawunyo Dumevi, William Tasiame, Yaw Adu-Sarkodie, Richard Odame Phillips, Christian Drosten and 1 more

Abstract readReview
In one paragraph

Review in One health outlook, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 1 paper, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
1citing papers in PubMed, 1 pooled it
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

1 citing paper in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it.

  1. Pooled it
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

11 authors.

Sherihane AryeeteyDepartment of Clinical Microbiology, Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, Kumasi, Ghana.
Philip El-DuahGerman West-African Centre for Global Health and Pandemic Prevention, Kumasi, Ghana.
Jonathan Mawutor GmanyamiGerman West-African Centre for Global Health and Pandemic Prevention, Kumasi, Ghana.
George AgyeiDepartment of Clinical Microbiology, Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, Kumasi, Ghana.
Augustina Angelina SylverkenKumasi Centre for Collaborative Research in Tropical Medicine (KCCR), Kumasi, Ghana.
Rexford Mawunyo DumeviCharité-Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Institute of Virology, Berlin, Germany.
William TasiameDepartment of Public Health, Food Hygiene and Food Safety, Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, Kumasi, Ghana.
Yaw Adu-SarkodieDepartment of Clinical Microbiology, Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, Kumasi, Ghana.
Richard Odame PhillipsKumasi Centre for Collaborative Research in Tropical Medicine (KCCR), Kumasi, Ghana.
Christian DrostenCharité-Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Institute of Virology, Berlin, Germany.
Michael OwusuGerman West-African Centre for Global Health and Pandemic Prevention, Kumasi, Ghana. michaelowusu80@gmail.com.

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundViral zoonoses, particularly RNA viruses, pose a growing public health threat in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) due to ecological disruption, rapid urbanization, and weak health systems. This scoping review synthesizes the available evidence on viral zoonotic outbreaks in SSA, focusing on documented public health and medical response strategies and the extent to which the One Health approach has been applied.

methodsWe conducted searches of peer-reviewed and grey literature published between January 2005 and March 2025 in PubMed, Scopus, Google Scholar, Google, and website searches including WHO-AFRO and Africa CDC. The search strategy combined Medical Subject Headings (MeSH) and keywords related to “zoonotic viruses,” “outbreaks,” “response,” and “Sub-Saharan Africa.” Eligible studies included outbreak reports, surveillance summaries, case reports, and epidemiological investigations involving human and/or animal viral zoonotic disease outbreaks in SSA. Data on outbreak characteristics, transmission patterns, response strategies, and One Health implementation were extracted.

resultsFrom an initial pool of 4,534 studies, fifty-two met the inclusion criteria. Rift Valley Fever virus (RVFV), Ebola virus, Marburg virus, Monkeypox, and Lassa virus were the most frequently reported viruses. A notable case of Lassa fever and SARS-CoV-2 co-infection was reported in Guinea. Transmission routes varied: direct contact, vector-borne, sexual, and nosocomial transmission. Reported public health responses included case isolation, contact tracing, community sensitization, vector control, and livestock surveillance, though there was limited formal assessment of their effectiveness. Integration of the One Health approach was inconsistently applied and explicitly documented in only a few studies.

conclusionZoonotic viral outbreaks in Sub-Saharan Africa remain a recurrent and evolving public health challenge due to persistent gaps in surveillance, preparedness, and cross-sector coordination. Strengthening community-based detection, rapid laboratory confirmation, health system capacity for diagnostics and response, and fully operationalizing One Health frameworks is essential to enhance early warning and outbreak control.

Indexed as

OutbreakResponse strategySub-Saharan AfricaViral zoonotic disease

Identifiers

PMID41354839
PMCPMC12801751

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
LicenceCC BY-NC-ND
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.