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PulseNet Africa

Revolutionising Foodborne Disease Prevention

Empowering health authorities to swiftly detect and respond to outbreaks, saving lives, and minimising the economic impact of foodborne diseases.

PulseNet Africa(external link), a regional branch of the global PulseNet International Network(external link), connect public health laboratories across more than 19 African countries to collaboratively monitor food- and waterborne disease outbreaks, including antimicrobial resistance (AMR). Since its inception in 2010, PulseNet Africa has been tracking key pathogens such as Vibro cholerae, Salmonella enterica, diarrhoeagenic Escherichia coli, Shigella spp., Campylobacter spp., and Listeria monocytogenes, given their global distribution, international transmission, and endemicity across most of sub-Saharan Africa.

Our mission is to foster a proactive and unified approach to outbreak surveillance, investigation, and control, ensuring the health and well-being of communities across Africa.

The network currently has 19 member institutions across Africa with full details at the PulseNet Africa Website(external link).

(external link)

Dr Ebenezer Foster-Nyarko

Regional Coordinator

Dr Foster-Nyarko is a Research Fellow in Professor Kathryn Holt’s group at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, UK. With over 46 publications, his work focuses on antimicrobial resistance (AMR) mechanisms, genomic diversity of E. coli and other related pathogens, and AMR evolution in West Africa. He has supported AMR surveillance in 15 WHO AFRO countries and contributed to developing innovative DNA extraction, library preparation techniques, and sequencing methodologies. As Regional Coordinator for PulseNet Africa and Chair of the African Pathogen Initiative’s Foodborne Diseases Technical Focus Group, he leads efforts to enhance genomic surveillance and track foodborne disease outbreaks across Africa.

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