Global Reach

Nigeria

In Nigeria, EIDB works with HJFMRI to advance high quality clinical research in the development of prevention and control countermeasures for emerging infectious diseases of public health importance.

Ebola

The Clinical Research Centre (CRC) in Abuja, Nigeria, works with a number of collaborators including WRAIR, EIDB and the Nigerian Ministry of Defence (NMOD). The CRC has partnered with WRAIR on a number of Ebola vaccine projects, and is currently conducting a Phase 2 trial evaluating an ebola vaccine candidate (Ad26.ZEBOV/MVA-BN-Filo) in healthy adults and those living with HIV. Previously Nigeria’s Clinical Research Centre worked with WRAIR to conduct the first Zaire Ebola vaccine trial in Nigeria.

Lassa Fever

EIDB has launched a study of Lassa fever epidemiology in Southern Nigeria in collaboration with the African Centre of Excellence for Genomics of Infectious Diseases (ACEGID). The study will provide information on the clinical course, immune response and transmission dynamics of the virus, which may inform review of guidelines for disease management and future vaccine research and development. The study also aims to characterize rodent vectors to describe the route of zoonotic transmission.

A second planned epidemiological study will aim to determine the prevalence of Lassa fever virus in Abuja and Lagos, Nigeria, and identify related risk factors. The findings of this study will provide information that will be useful for future Lassa vaccine studies. 

JWARG and WRAIR's longstanding support for the President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) program have helped build sustainable medical research infrastructure in Nigeria.

JWARG in Nigeria

JWARG’s EID005 research protocol is a study designed to identify and characterize cases of suspected severe infectious disease in West Africa. This multi-site protocol opened in Nigeria in 2017 and enrolls adult volunteers who present to clinics as severely ill with a suspected infectious source. In addition to receiving care, they provide specimens for laboratory analysis and complete a brief questionnaire that captures basic clinical, demographic and exposure data.

EID005 has brought advanced diagnostic methods to bear in the West African hospital setting, including assays for the diagnosis of Lassa and other viral hemorrhagic fevers, generating data on circulating infectious disease threats in the region and informing countermeasure development.

The EID005 team enrolled participants at two sites in Lagos (68 Nigerian Army Reference Hospital and Ikorodu General Hospital), and in Makurdi at the 161 Nigerian Air Force Hospital, with support from the reference laboratory at the African Centre of Excellence for the Genomics of Infectious Disease (ACEGID).

JWARG also works to conduct clinical and laboratory trainings in Nigeria, Liberia and Ghana to promote infectious disease expertise among professionals in the region.