Africa CDC
Africa's continental disease surveillance body; co-launched ARILAC AMR lab network in May 2026.
Last refreshed: 7 May 2026 · Appears in 1 active topic
Can ARILAC give Africa the AMR surveillance data it has been missing for decades?
Timeline for Africa CDC
Published 6 May statement giving departure date as 20 March, conflicting with WHO's 1 April
Pandemics and Biosecurity: Andes hantavirus confirmed in Swiss returneeCo-launched ARILAC in Addis Ababa on 6 May with ASLM and the EU
Pandemics and Biosecurity: Africa CDC and EU launch ARILAC for AMR- What does Africa CDC do and who funds it?
- Africa CDC coordinates disease surveillance and outbreak response across 55 African Union member states. It is funded by the AU and international partners including the EU.
- What is ARILAC and why did Africa CDC launch it?
- ARILAC is a four-year EU-backed programme launched on 6 May 2026 to build AMR laboratory capacity in 8 African countries, where only 1.3% of assessed labs currently conduct routine AMR testing.Source: Africa CDC
- How does Africa CDC's hantavirus statement differ from the WHO's?
- Africa CDC gave MV Hondius's departure from Ushuaia as 20 March 2026; WHO DON 599 stated 1 April. The two-week difference changes whether the HCPS incubation timeline points to pre-boarding or at-sea exposure.Source: Africa CDC statement, 6 May 2026
- Why does AMR surveillance matter so much in Africa?
- Only 1.3% of assessed labs across 14 African countries conduct routine AMR testing, meaning drug-resistant infections cannot be tracked across most of the continent, leaving outbreaks invisible until they are severe.Source: Africa CDC / ARILAC launch
Background
Africa CDC (Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention) is the African Union's public health agency, headquartered in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia and established in 2016. It coordinates disease surveillance, outbreak preparedness, and laboratory capacity across the 55 AU member states. Africa CDC operates a regional integrated surveillance and laboratory network (RISLNET) and maintains regional coordinating centres across five African sub-regions. It gained significant international prominence during the COVID-19 pandemic and the ongoing mpox clade I response. The agency's mandate covers both human and animal health (One Health) and it functions as the primary interface between the African Union and WHO on outbreak declarations and cross-border health responses.
Africa CDC issued a 6 May 2026 statement on the MV Hondius hantavirus cluster, giving the vessel's departure from Ushuaia as 20 March, conflicting with WHO DON 599's date of 1 April; the discrepancy has direct bearing on the plausible exposure timeline for HCPS. On 6 May Africa CDC, together with the African Society for Laboratory Medicine (ASLM) and the EU, launched ARILAC (Advancing Regional Integrated Laboratory Capacity for AMR Control) in Addis Ababa. The four-year programme targets 8 AU member states and addresses the finding that only 1.3% of more than 50,000 assessed medical laboratories in 14 African countries conduct routine AMR testing.
