For the first time, the East African Community (EAC) is operationalising its Rapidly Deployable Expert (RDE) Pool in response to an international public health emergency due to the spreading Mpox virus disease outbreak. EAC Partner States such as the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) and the Republic of Burundi are particularly affected, with the DRC reporting over 7,000 confirmed cases by October 2024, around 40% of them children under 15.

To support health efforts in the DRC and Burundi, the EAC Secretariat is deploying skilled regional emergency experts through three joint deployments with the German Epidemic Preparedness Team (SEEG) over the next six months. The official flagging-off of the EAC RDE Pool is led by the EAC Secretary General, Hon. Veronica Nduva, and Marcus von Essen, Head of the East Africa Division at the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ), in the presence of the Ambassadors of the DRC and Burundi as well as an RDE Pool expert representative.

The deployments for the Mpox outbreak follow a formal request from the Provincial Ministry of Health of South Kivu Province, DRC, to the SEEG, to support a series of deployments in the region, implemented in collaboration with the EAC RDE pool. This deployment builds on an initial SEEG mission in June 2024, focusing on infection prevention and control (IPC) measures to respond to Ebola and Mpox Virus Disease outbreaks, which highlighted critical needs for IPC trainings and supply gaps in IPC commodities for healthcare facilities at regional level.

During the upcoming deployments, experts will deliver critical training on IPC measures, as well as risk communication strategies and laboratory diagnosis, to enhance the capacities of health workers’ and local communities’ response to Mpox outbreaks. A training-of-trainer’s approach will further amplify the knowledge within local health facilities. In addition, these efforts will address shortages in critical medical supplies and personal protective equipment (PPE), ensuring communities and healthcare providers are better prepared to manage the outbreak.

The EAC region has long faced recurrent outbreaks of infectious diseases, including Ebola, Marburg, Measles, Bird Flu, and COVID-19, all of which threaten the health, livelihoods, and economic stability of the region. To enhance preparedness and response, the EAC established the RDE Pool following the 18th EAC Sectoral Council of Ministers of Health's approval in 2019 (EAC/SC/Health/18/Decision 08). The pool aims to ensure a timely, coordinated, and multidisciplinary response to disease outbreaks, in line with the International Health Regulations (IHR).

Lessons from the West Africa Ebola outbreak (2014-2015) underscored the need for rapid and coordinated cross-border responses, leading to steps of operationalising the EAC RDE Pool. In June 2024, the EAC Secretariat, Partner States, Africa CDC, and WHO conducted a Tabletop Simulation Exercise (TTX) in Nairobi, Kenya, to test the deployment mechanism of the RDE Pool in coordination with continental and regional outbreak response frameworks. This exercise, supported by BMZ through GIZ and SEEG, informed the development of a roadmap for enhanced integration with Africa CDC’s AVoHC-SURGE initiative, promoting joint planning, deployment, and capacity building as a basis to formalise cooperation.

The ongoing Mpox outbreak, initially reported in eastern DRC, has since spread to Burundi, Kenya, Rwanda, and Uganda, posing a growing threat in light of concurrent outbreaks like the Marburg Virus Disease recently reported in Rwanda. Shortages in PPE, infection control measures, and limited laboratory capacity underscore the urgency of deploying the RDE Pool to assist in outbreak containment.

The RDE Pool, now consisting of over 140 experts from EAC Partner States, is set for expansion, marking a new era in EAC's health emergency response capabilities. Through these deployments, the EAC strengthens its collaboration with key partners to safeguard regional public health and support effective cross-border outbreak responses.

Speaking during the press conference, the EAC Secretary General, Hon. Veronica Nduva, said that infectious diseases have no boundaries with the EAC region exhibiting all the features for cross-border movement of diseases.

“This is a region that is known for continuous movement of people and goods, and where we are experiencing recurrent infectious disease outbreaks, often spreading from animal to humans,” said Hon. Nduva.

“The ongoing public health emergency due to Mpox as well as the parallel outbreak of Marburg virus disease in the EAC reflect this. These outbreaks pose substantial challenges to our health systems and affect our economies and livelihoods more broadly,” she added.

The Secretary General disclosed that the EAC and its Partner States have over several years built up preparedness and response capacities in collaboration with key technical and funding partners, adding that Germany had been a worthy partner in promoting better health initiatives across East Africa.

“The EAC Expert Pool does not operate in isolation. Through our long-term collaboration with the Africa CDC, WHO, the German government, to name a few, we aim to create synergies that can enhance our collective efforts. We know that every outbreak requires a coordinated response,” she added.

In partnership with the German Development Cooperation, the EAC Secretariat is advancing efforts to boost regional preparedness and response capacities for epidemics and pandemics.

"I am glad to witness this small but concrete output of our cooperation - lasting now for more than 25 years. From the first days onwards, we support the EAC in its mandate of regional economic integration. For which it is necessary that goods and people can cross borders smoothly, goods and people not diseases. As any pandemic outbreak is ignorant of borders, any response calls for regional cooperation. Hence, it is an important step that the EAC has set up and sends out trained health specialists of its Rapid Deployable Expert Pool today.", said Mr. Marcus von Essen, the Head of Division for East Africa, BMZ.

Since 2016, BMZ, through KFW, has supported the establishment of 10 mobile labs across EAC Partner States. These labs, with an investment of approximately EUR 25 million, provide rapid diagnostic capacity essential for outbreak containment. They have proven instrumental during various disease crises, including the COVID-19 pandemic, the 2022 Ebola outbreak in Uganda, and the 2023 Marburg outbreak in Tanzania.

Currently, efforts are focused on laboratory testing capacities through the provision of diagnostic kits for Mpox and Marburg viruses and the deployment of mobile laboratories at key locations.

Additionally, BMZ, through GIZ, has enhanced the EAC’s risk and crisis communication at the regional level and established 43 Water, Sanitation, and Hygiene (WASH) facilities in border areas. These efforts include community awareness programs and trainings for health personnel at key locations, such as airports, border posts, and ports, to improve infection prevention and inform travelers, including EAC citizens and tourists, about health-related risks.

Also present at the event were the Burundian Ambassador to Tanzania, H.E. Leontine Nzeyimana, and Mr. Louis Kisombo Manzombi from the Embassy of DRC to Tanzania.