Africa CDC Advisor Applauds Ethiopia’s Exemplary Triumph Over Marburg

Addis Ababa, 20 February 2026 —The Principal Advisor for Programmes Management at the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC), Ngashi Ngongo has lauded Ethiopia’s swift and decisive containment of the Marburg Virus Disease as a testament to the nation’s burgeoning health sovereignty and resilient medical infrastructure.

Speaking to ENA, Dr. Ngashi Ngongo, Principal Advisor for Programmes Management at Africa CDC, praised the government’s decisive leadership and coordinated national response, which brought the outbreak under control within a short period.

“Ethiopia has demonstrated strong leadership and an organized response that enabled the country to contain Marburg swiftly. This is a showcase of a resilient health system,” he said.

On January 26, 2026, the Ethiopian Ministry of Health officially announced that Marburg Virus Disease had been eradicated from the country’s borders, marking a significant milestone in Ethiopia’s public health efforts.

Dr. Ngongo congratulated the Government of Ethiopia, noting that the response to the outbreak was immediate, well structured, and grounded in prior experience managing public health emergencies.

According to him, Ethiopia’s handling of the virus provides valuable lessons for other African countries on managing health crises without causing major social and economic disruption.

He highlighted the central role of the Ethiopian Public Health Institute in coordinating surveillance, laboratory testing, and response operations. The institute, he said, effectively applied its expertise while identifying gaps to further strengthen preparedness for future outbreaks.

“There are important lessons to draw from Ethiopia’s experience, particularly in strengthening surveillance systems to ensure cases are detected early,” Ngongo noted.

He added that the expansion of the health extension program has been critical in enabling surveillance to begin at the community level and flow through the entire system.

Ethiopia’s decentralized laboratory capacity also played a decisive role, allowing rapid detection and response. Well distributed laboratories across the country helped identify cases promptly and support immediate intervention, he explained.

On Africa CDC’s collaboration during the outbreak, Dr. Ngongo said the continental body provided technical assistance, deployed experts, reinforced laboratory systems, and supplied essential reagents.

“We are in Ethiopia and Ethiopia is our priority,” he said. “There is no doubt about the commitment to support the country.”

He further emphasized the broader continental push to strengthen Africa’s health sovereignty.

“Health sovereignty is no longer an option. It has become a necessity,” he stressed, underscoring the need for African nations to rely more on domestic resources to build sustainable and reliable health systems.

The remarks come as health and finance leaders recently convened in Addis Ababa for a high-level forum focused on advancing Africa’s health security and strengthening collaboration between the health and finance sectors to build self-reliant systems across the continent.