Mobile labs speed up Ebola testing in eastern DR Congo

In eastern Congo, mobile laboratories are helping health workers get Ebola test results much faster in some of the outbreak’s hardest-hit areas.

At a lab in Butembo, samples can now be tested on site — and the entire facility can be moved quickly if another community faces an emergency.

Michel Ngimba, INRB Butembo: “This is a vehicle, that’s why we say ‘mobile’. It can be moved. It can be moved at any time. So we can go, if today we have an emergency, for example, in Katwa, we can start up the vehicle, and we can move the lab to Katwa.”

Doctors say the speed of testing is making a major difference. Results that once took up to 72 hours can now be available within 24 hours — and sometimes in as little as six.

Lota Kalubi, doctor, ITAV Ebola treatment centre: “When the epidemic was declared, a test could take up to 72 hours to get results. This is the first thing that was solved with these sites.”

Faster results mean suspected patients can be isolated and treated sooner, while those who test negative can return to routine care.

Andrew Nsawotebba, Uganda mobile lab team lead: “If results return quickly, it means those that are suspected of Ebola with two negative results between 72 hours will be able to be guided to move to the routine healthcare system pathway.”

The mobile lab is currently at an Ebola treatment centre established with Uganda’s help at Butembo’s Agricultural and Veterinary Technical Institute.