Effects of COVID-19 on the laboratory turn-around time of vaccine-preventable disease surveillance: the case of measles in South Sudan

Abstract

Corona Virus Disease (COVID-19) is caused by severe acute respiratory coronavirus type 2 (SARS-CoV-2), which was first reported in Wuhan, China [1,2]. The transmission of the virus spread to many different countries, which compelled the World Health Organization (WHO) to declare the virus as a pandemic in March 2020 [3,4]. The first case of the Coronavirus was detected in South Sudan in the middle of March, prompting restriction of inter-States movement. The national public health laboratory performing tests, to detect Vacine-preventable Disease (VPDs) are also responsible for conducting SARS-CoV-2 tests, which is straining its capacity. In addition, disruption of the transportation of specimens to the national laboratory from the ten States of South Sudan has led to the long lead time. We used the 2019 and 2020 VPDs data sources from the South Sudan ministry of health to assess the impact of COVID-19 on the measles laboratory turn-around time in South Sudan.