Online Reporter
Rumbidzayi Zinyuke-Senior Health Reporter
ZIMBABWE has approached the World Health Organisation (WHO) for a limited supply of Ebola testing reagents to enable local screening of suspected cases, as the country strengthens preparedness against the deadly viral disease amid ongoing outbreaks elsewhere in Africa.
The specialised reagents are essential chemical substances used in laboratory testing to detect the presence of the Ebola virus in patient samples.
Although Zimbabwe has the laboratory infrastructure and trained personnel to conduct Ebola tests, it does not routinely stock the reagents because they have a short shelf life and would likely expire before use, given that the country has never recorded a confirmed Ebola case.
Health and Child Care Minister Dr Douglas Mombeshora said Zimbabwe currently sends samples from suspected Ebola cases to a regional reference laboratory in South Africa for confirmation, in line with established regional outbreak response protocols.
“We have strengthened our laboratory systems. As Zimbabwe, we are able to test for the Ebola virus, but what we didn’t have are the reagents.
“Currently, specimens are sent to South Africa. It is not our choice to say that we send all our specimens to South Africa. It is that regions have laboratories which are identified to deal with outbreaks, and for our southern region, South Africa has the laboratory,” he said.
Dr Mombeshora said the ministry had approached WHO to provide a limited quantity of reagents to facilitate local preliminary testing while samples are simultaneously sent to South Africa for confirmation.
“In fact, we recently had a suspected case, which fortunately turned out to be malaria after laboratory tests.
“So, we have approached WHO to give us some reagents so that we can also do our tests whilst we send the specimens for confirmation to South Africa,” he said.
Zimbabwe’s ability to conduct Ebola testing locally stems from investments made during the Covid-19 pandemic, when the country significantly expanded its molecular testing capacity, upgraded public health laboratories and trained laboratory personnel nationwide.
The enhanced laboratory network, initially developed to support Covid-19 testing, has since improved Zimbabwe’s capacity to detect and respond rapidly to other infectious disease threats, including Ebola and other viral haemorrhagic fevers.
Dr Mombeshora said the country has also intensified surveillance at ports of entry to minimise the risk of importing the disease. Zimbabwe has designated isolation centres at Wilkins Hospital in Harare and another facility in Bulawayo to manage any suspected Ebola cases.
The ministry has also strengthened surveillance along the northern border with Zambia because of the risk posed by population movements from the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).
Thermal scanners are operational at the Robert Gabriel Mugabe International Airport, the Victoria Falls International Airport and the Joshua Mqabuko Nkomo International Airport.
The heightened preparedness comes as African countries continue responding to Ebola outbreaks that have affected the DRC and Uganda, prompting regional authorities to strengthen surveillance and cross-border cooperation.
Nearly 800 cases and about 200 deaths have been reported during the current outbreaks.
Ebola is a severe viral haemorrhagic fever transmitted through direct contact with the blood or other bodily fluids of infected people, or through contact with contaminated materials.
Early symptoms include fever, severe headache, muscle pain, vomiting and diarrhoea, while severe illness can progress to organ failure and, in some cases, internal and external bleeding.
