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Objectives: The contribution of African authors to the biomedical literature is small. We evaluated the African and non‐African scientific production published in the international literature on the COVID‐19 in Africa during the first year of the epidemic (2020). Methods: Papers on COVID‐19 in Africa were extracted from the Medline (PubMed) database for bibliometric analysis including the proportions of three leading and last authors by study type, study country, authors' and laboratories/institutions' countries of affiliation and journal ranking. Results: A total of 160 articles fulfilling the inclusion criteria were analysed. The majority (91.3%) was produced by half (53.7%) of African countries, with important regional disparities, and generally without sources of funding mentioned. The majority (>85.0) of authors in lead positions (first, second, third and last authors) were Africans. Only a small number (8.7%) of studies on COVID‐19 in Africa were carried out by laboratories not on the African continent (mainly Europe, USA and China) and generally received funding. The last and first authors were more frequently of non‐African origin in journals with an Impact Factor ranking ≥1, and more frequently of African origin in journals with a lower ranking (< 1). The first and last non‐African authors tended to report their studies in high ranking ≥1 journals. Conclusions: Our study demonstrates that the emergence of promising African research capable of publishing in indexed but low‐impact factor medical journals and reveals the persistence of a North‐South asymmetry in international cooperation in biomedical research with Africa. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Bats are the natural reservoir host for many pathogenic and non‐pathogenic viruses, potentially spilling over to humans and domestic animals directly or via an intermediate host. The ongoing COVID‐19 pandemic is the continuation of virus spillover events that have taken place over the last few decades, particularly in Asia and Africa. Therefore, these bat‐associated epidemics provide a significant number of hints, including respiratory cellular tropism, more intense susceptibility to these cell types, and overall likely to become a pandemic for the next spillover. In this systematic review, we analysed data to insight, through bat‐originated spillover in Asia and Africa. We used STATA/IC‐13 software for descriptive statistics and meta‐analysis. The random effect of meta‐analysis showed that the pooled estimates of case fatality rates of bat‐originated viral zoonotic diseases were higher in Africa (61.06%, 95%CI: 50.26 to 71.85, l2% = 97.3, p < 0.001). Moreover, estimates of case fatality rates were higher in Ebola (61.06%; 95%CI: 50.26 to 71.85, l2% = 97.3, p < 0.001) followed by Nipah (55.19%; 95%CI: 39.29 to 71.09, l2% = 94.2, p < 0.001), MERS (18.49%; 95%CI: 8.19 to 28.76, l2% = 95.4, p < 0.001) and SARS (10.86%; 95%CI: 6.02 to 15.71, l2% = 85.7, p < 0.001) with the overall case fatality rates of 29.86 (95%CI: 29.97 to 48.58, l2% = 99.0, p < 0.001). Bat‐originated viruses have caused several outbreaks of deadly diseases, including Nipah, Ebola, SARS and MERS in Asia and Africa in a sequential fashion. Nipah virus emerged first in Malaysia, but later, periodic outbreaks were noticed in Bangladesh and India. Similarly, the Ebola virus was detected in the African continent with neurological disorders in humans, like Nipah, seen in the Asian region. Two important coronaviruses, MERS and SARS, were introduced, both with the potential to infect respiratory passages. This paper explores the dimension of spillover events within and/or between bat–human and the epidemiological risk factors, which may lead to another pandemic occurring. Further, these processes enhance the bat‐originated virus, which utilises an intermediate host to jump into human species. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Omicron variant was first found in Botswana, southern Africa, on November 9, 2021. The variant has many mutations and spreads quickly. It also has immune escape to existing COVID-19 vaccines, and the infection rate and repeated infection rate have increased worldwide. For such variant, at this stage, foreign countries mainly adopt three strategies to prevent and control the epidemic. First, big data is used to track the potential infection of the epidemic, trace the spread of the epidemic, screen close contacts, and control the scope of infection. The second is to maximum the coverage rate of vaccination, especially the coverage rate of the third injection, so as to reduce the infection level of Omicron variant. At last, they are developing a general coronavirus vaccine to prevent infection caused by SARS-CoV-2 variants, including the Omicron variant, so as to fundamentally eliminate the potential threat of variants to human beings. In this paper, three major epidemic prevention strategies of Omicron variant abroad were summarized in detail. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The COVID-19 pandemic has caused over 500 million cases and over six million deaths globally. From these numbers, over 12 million cases and over 250 thousand deaths have occurred on the African continent as of May 2022. Prevention and surveillance remains the cornerstone of interventions to halt the further spread of COVID-19. Google Health Trends (GHT), a free Internet tool, may be valuable to help anticipate outbreaks, identify disease hotspots, or understand the patterns of disease surveillance. We collected COVID-19 case and death incidence for 54 African countries and obtained averages for four, five-month study periods in 2020–2021. Average case and death incidences were calculated during these four time periods to measure disease severity. We used GHT to characterize COVID-19 incidence across Africa, collecting numbers of searches from GHT related to COVID-19 using four terms: 'coronavirus', 'coronavirus symptoms', 'COVID19', and 'pandemic'. The terms were related to weekly COVID-19 case incidences for the entire study period via multiple linear and weighted linear regression analyses. We also assembled 72 variables assessing Internet accessibility, demographics, economics, health, and others, for each country, to summarize potential mechanisms linking GHT searches and COVID-19 incidence. COVID-19 burden in Africa increased steadily during the study period. Important increases for COVID-19 death incidence were observed for Seychelles and Tunisia. Our study demonstrated a weak correlation between GHT and COVID-19 incidence for most African countries. Several variables seemed useful in explaining the pattern of GHT statistics and their relationship to COVID-19 including: log of average weekly cases, log of cumulative total deaths, and log of fixed total number of broadband subscriptions in a country. Apparently, GHT may best be used for surveillance of diseases that are diagnosed more consistently. Overall, GHT-based surveillance showed little applicability in the studied countries. GHT for an ongoing epidemic might be useful in specific situations, such as when countries have significant levels of infection with low variability. Future studies might assess the algorithm in different epidemic contexts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article shares findings on COVID-19 in Africa across 2020 to examine concepts and practices of epidemic preparedness and response. Amidst uncertainties about the trajectory of COVID-19, the stages of emergency response emerge in practice as interconnected. We illustrate how complex dynamics manifest as diverse actors interpret and modify approaches according to contexts and experiences. We suggest that the concept of "intersecting precarities" best captures the temporalities at stake; that these precarities include the effects of epidemic control measures; and that people do not just accept but actively negotiate these intersections as they seek to sustain their lives and livelihoods. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article discusses comparison of pandemic publishing with reference of COVID-19 and HIV. Topics discussed include story of the development of COVID-19 vaccines, particularly Oxford–AstraZeneca; lack of research and writing about the long-term impacts of pandemic; and economic effects on people in the developing world from pandemic.