NIH: WAC-EID Shutdown Weakens West African Outbreak Surveillance

When NIH terminated the Centers for Research in Emerging Infectious Diseases (CREID) network in June 2025, it ended support for the West African Center for Emerging Infectious Diseases (WAC-EID), led by the University of Texas Medical Branch (UTMB), halting a program designed to strengthen early detection and response to zoonotic and vector-borne threats in West Africa. WAC-EID paired field studies of animal-to-human transmission with clinical studies of human exposure and disease outcomes to generate evidence that can guide faster, more effective outbreak response.

The center conducted integrated surveillance across humans and animal and insect vectors to produce risk maps for human exposure, focusing on disease risks in the region including chikungunya, dengue, Ebola, Lassa, MERS, Nipah, yellow fever, and Zika. In parallel, WAC-EID worked to strengthen local capacity and expertise through collaborations and trainings in Senegal, Sierra Leone, and Nigeria to support national and regional outbreak response. The termination curtailed critical surveillance activities and disrupted cross-border partnerships, weakening early-warning capabilities critical to preventing outbreaks from becoming epidemics. The Texas team leading the work has also experienced significant layoffs.

The CREID network was established by NIH in 2020 to build outbreak-ready surveillance and research capacity in regions where emerging epidemics are most likely to occur. Through nine research centers, a coordinating center, and more than 100 sites worldwide, CREID linked multidisciplinary teams to study disease transmission dynamics, strengthen local preparedness, and develop improved tools and early warning systems. Its capabilities supported responses to COVID-19 and to outbreaks of Lassa fever, mpox, and other high-consequence pathogens. By operating as a coordinated network, CREID enabled faster sharing of data, specimens, methods, and technical expertise—capabilities that individual projects often cannot sustain. When the centers were terminated in June 2025, the loss was not just individual centers, but a coordinated early-warning and response architecture that supported partners abroad and US preparedness at home.

WAC-EID was led by the University of Texas Medical Branch (Galveston, TX) in partnership with the University of California, Davis and collaborators across Senegal, Sierra Leone, Singapore, and Argentina.