National Institute for Communicable Diseases

The National Institute for Communicable Diseases (NICD) is the national public health insitute for South Africa. It provides reference microbiology,virology,epidemiology, surveillance and public health research to support the government’s response to communicable disease threats.

The NICD is organised into functional Centres, bringing together expertise in both reference microbiology and epidemiology to enable an intergrated public health response to communicable disease threats.

The NICD primarily supports the programmes of the National and Provincial Departments of Health. As well as national support, the NICD also provides public health services such as collaborating laboratory or regional reference laboratory functions for global programmes of the World Health Organisation (WHO)

The NICD has established co-operatives agreements with partner national public health institutions such as the Center for Disease Control (CDC) and NIH/NIAID of the USA, the European Centre for Disease Control (ECDC) and the Health Protection Agency (HPA) of the United Kingdom, as well as other internationally recognised public health insitutions.

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It is critical that the affected communities have access to safe drinking water. Phill Magakoe /AFP via Getty Images

Floods create health risks: what to look out for and how to avoid them

The displacement of people and overcrowding that often results from flooding provide optimal conditions for outbreaks of respiratory and gastrointestinal illness.
A man sprays the walls of a house with insecticide against mosquitoes. Cristina Aldehuela/AFP via Getty Images

Fresh signs of mosquito insecticide resistance in South Africa

Insecticide resistance is a growing threat to malaria control efforts globally. It is, thus, important to keep a close eye on vector mosquito populations in affected areas.
South Africa has mobile malaria border surveillance units working with communities and in highly mobile migrant populations. Photo: Jaishree Raman

Malaria elimination: South Africa needs to regroup and refocus to get there

South Africa is one of the few malaria-endemic countries in Africa that did not see a major upsurge in malaria cases caused by COVID-related disruptions.
Mural en la avenida Haile Selassie en Nairobi, Kenia. Boniface Muthoni/SOPA Images/LightRocket vía Getty Images

Triunfos, errores y aprendizajes: expertos africanos reflexionan sobre la respuesta ante la covid‑19

A pesar de la pandemia, las disparidades y las estructuras de poder desiguales en la salud mundial siguen intactas. Será difícil afrontar nuevos desafíos globales, como el calentamiento global, si no cambia el sistema.
A mural along Haile Selassie avenue in Nairobi, Kenya. Boniface Muthoni/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images

Wins, missteps and lessons: African experts reflect on two years of COVID response

It’s a huge cause for concern that, two years into the pandemic, the disparities and unequal power structures in global health are still intact.
After South African scientists sounded the alarm about the new omicron variant, countries around the world closed their borders. Kim Ludbrook/EPA

South African scientists on the inside story of discovering omicron – and what their experience offers the world about future variants. Podcast

Plus, is the human emotional response to music innate or is it shaped by a person’s culture? Listen to The Conversation Weekly podcast.
South Africa is seeing a spike in COVID-19 cases. EMMANUEL CROSET/AFP via Getty Images

Omicron: evidence shows it evades immunity from earlier infection more than other variants

At this stage, we cannot say anything about the severity of cases with Omicron - either in primary or reinfections.
C’est en séquençant le matériel génétique contenu dans des échantillons issus de personnes testées positives pour le coronavirus que les scientifiques identifient les nouveaux variants. Lightspring / Shutterstock

Omicron : comment ce nouveau variant du SARS‑CoV‑2 a‑t‑il été identifié, et que sait‑on de lui ?

Une nouvelle lignée de SARS-CoV-2, B.1.1.529, a été identifiée. Baptisée Omicron par l’OMS, qui l’a catégorisé « préoccupant », ce variant a un profil génétique très différent des précédents.

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