In sub-Saharan Africa and other regions with high burdens of malaria, patients presenting with fevers are often prescribed antimalarial drugs without a confirmed diagnosis to avoid treatment delays. However, many infectious diseases cause fevers, and inappropriate use of antimalarial medicines for patients who do not have malaria fuels development of drug resistance. While malaria diagnostic tests are widely available, there is a critical need for accurate, affordable, and rapid diagnostics for other febrile diseases to inform proper treatment. A new collaboration between Usmanu Danfodiyo University, Sokoto (UDUS) in Nigeria and the Johann Wolfgang Goethe University Frankfurt in Germany—the first partnership facilitated by BIO Ventures for Global Health (BVGH) through its new Global Innovation Alliance—is validating novel febrile disease diagnostic tests and collecting critical data on febrile disease prevalence across Nigeria.
Fevers are common in Nigeria. Professor Mustapha Umar Imam, Professor Mohammed Yahaya, and their colleagues at UDUS are studying the epidemiology of febrile diseases in the country, with the aims of raising local healthcare providers’ awareness of fever-causing illnesses other than malaria and improving patient outcomes. Leveraging its strong relationships across Nigeria and involvement in the German government-funded LOEWE Center DRUID, BVGH connected Professor Imam and Professor Yahaya with Professor Peter Kraiczy at the Goethe University Frankfurt. Representing one of the six academic university members of DRUID, Professor Kraiczy is committed to building research links with African scientists to tackle infectious diseases prevalent across the continent. Such diseases include arthropod-borne relapsing fevers caused by diverse Borrelia bacterial species (RFB), which have symptoms similar to those of malaria. The existing diagnostic tests for RFB—microscopic visualization of bacteria in blood samples—require time and experience, and they can miss infections during afebrile episodes when a patient’s bacterial load is temporarily very low. Due to the similarities to malaria in clinical presentation, and the challenges associated with the current tests, RFB are rarely diagnosed, and their burden in Nigeria is unknown.
Professor Kraiczy recently developed two new serological tests for louse-borne relapsing fever (an RFB prevalent in East Africa) that detect antibodies against Borrelia recurrentis antigens. Due to the strong similarity (homology) of the antigens across multiple Borrelia species, the tests can also detect antibodies against other types of Borrelia—including Borrelia found in Nigeria that are transmitted by soft-bodied ticks, causing tick-borne relapsing fever (TBRF). To assess the degree to which TBRF and other RFB are causes of non-malarial fevers in Nigerian patients, the UDUS team is seizing the opportunity to apply Professor Kraiczy’s tests to understand prevalence of and distribution of RFB in the country.
Professor Imam, Professor Yahaya, and their team will use Professor Kraiczy’s tests to screen febrile patients and healthy individuals in Nigeria for cross-reacting antibodies against Borrelia species that cause RFB. The presence of these cross-antibodies indicates that an individual has been exposed to Borrelia. In a second confirmation step, the UDUS researchers will test positive samples for the presence of Borrelia DNA using PCR assays. This two-step process will enable proper treatment of confirmed RFB patients, validate new diagnostic tests, and provide important insights into the prevalence of RFB in the Nigerian population. The UDUS researchers and Professor Kraiczy will also identify the (as yet unknown) Borrelia species carried by arthropods in the local environment. Such vector surveillance is critical, as a high load of Borrelia-carrying arthropods is an early warning sign that warrants increased awareness and testing for RFB in febrile Nigerian patients.
The RFB diagnostic testing collaboration is one component of a larger BVGH-facilitated partnership between UDUS and Goethe University Frankfurt. Both teams are eager to improve the prevention, diagnosis, and treatment of infectious diseases in Nigeria. In addition to research and development (R&D) collaborations, the universities will partner on site visits, knowledge exchanges, and training initiatives: activities that are integral to both universities’ values of academic collaboration.
“Our vision at UDUS is to create a world-class infectious disease research center, built around a thriving ecosystem of research innovation and research training. International R&D collaborations that focus on our priorities—such as our partnership with Goethe University Frankfurt—are critical for the success and sustainability of UDUS’ infectious disease center of excellence,” said Professor Lawal Bilbis, Vice Chancellor of UDUS and an eminent malaria researcher. “BVGH consistently presents collaboration opportunities that put our interests first and match our researchers with like-minded faculty, such as Professor Kraiczy, who demonstrate a deep commitment to the partnership. I look forward to forging many more impactful collaborations through the Global Innovation Alliance.”
“Collaborating with Professor Imam and Professor Yahaya is a much-anticipated opportunity to validate our new diagnostic tests while collecting real-time epidemiological data for the benefit of Nigerian patients, resulting in target-oriented antibiotic treatment. Partnerships like this are essential to my research and a priority for Germany. Building on this partnership with UDUS, my team is excited to host Nigerian fellows in my lab to further knowledge sharing and collaboration.” said Professor Kraiczy.
Dr. Francis Gurry, Global Innovation Alliance Special Advisor and a pioneer of initiatives to foster knowledge exchange and innovation worldwide, praised the UDUS-Goethe University Frankfurt partnership. “This collaboration demonstrates that sharing resources and expertise amplifies the potential of what can be achieved in infectious disease research. Such partnerships are essential to building innovation ecosystems in countries that have the highest burden—and the greatest motivation—to find lasting solutions for infectious diseases.” During his tenure as Director General of the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO), Dr. Gurry championed and launched WIPO Re:Search—a global consortium to drive innovation for neglected tropical diseases, malaria, and tuberculosis through intellectual property sharing—with BVGH and leading pharmaceutical companies.
About BIO Ventures for Global Health and Global Innovation Alliance:
BIO Ventures for Global Health (BVGH) is a Seattle, USA-based nonprofit organization working at the crossroads of the private and public sectors to advance research and improve health. BVGH connects people, resources, and ideas across biotechnology and pharmaceutical companies, governments, and nonprofits to solve global health issues.
BVGH’s Global Innovation Alliance (GIA) addresses the disproportionate burden of infectious diseases in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) in alignment with LMICs’ priorities and needs. GIA catalyzes early-stage research and development (R&D) partnerships between LMIC scientists and global collaborators; empowers LMIC scientists to participate in infectious disease R&D through capacity building initiatives; and builds and promotes clinical trial capabilities and inclusion in LMICs.
Great 👍
The initiative is a very great one, I am interested in joining forces to elucidate the causes of febrile illness other than malaria.