RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – The World Health Organization (WHO) officially appointed the Fiocruz Respiratory Virus and Measles Laboratory (Oswaldo Cruz Institute) as the reference laboratory for fighting the novel coronavirus in the Americas.
The Fiocruz laboratory, which was already a reference with the WHO for Influenza-type viruses, was in charge of testing samples and training other institutions in the country to also perform Covid-19 tests.
Henceforth, Fiocruz will be in a position to be sent Covid-19 samples from other countries in the region to provide genetic sequencing of the novel coronavirus, detect mutations and deepen studies that may lead to the development of a vaccine and the improvement of diagnostics, as well as drug testing.
In addition to the Fiocruz laboratory, only the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), linked to the US government, acts as a WHO reference in the fight against the novel coronavirus in the American continent.
According to the head of the Fiocruz laboratory, Marilda Siqueira, the referral by the WHO positions Brazil prominently in the international community in healthcare efforts to tackle the virus, which has already led to over 1.4 million cases worldwide. The Brazilian leadership in Latin America also encourages the exchange of knowledge and methodologies with neighboring countries, according to Siqueira.
“All this allows the data produced in Brazil to have power and representativeness to influence global assessments on the situation of influenza viruses and now also the coronavirus,” said the researcher.
“This also means a commitment not only from the laboratory, but also from the country, to continue the epidemiological and laboratory surveillance of Covid-19 with an updated strategy and methodology, while retaining the standard that led to this reference status”.
Fiocruz had been selected by the WHO in late March to lead a clinical trial in Brazil, involving 18 hospitals from 12 states, with the aim of assessing issues such as the use of drugs to fight coronavirus. The institution has been testing the effectiveness of drugs used to treat the HIV virus against Covid-19, for instance.
Early this year, amid the advance of Covid-19 cases in China, the Fiocruz laboratory established protocols for diagnosing the novel coronavirus with the PAHO (Pan American Health Organization).
Since then, the laboratory has worked on training and qualifying other diagnostic centers in the country, such as the Adolfo Lutz Institute in São Paulo, which detected the first confirmed case of coronavirus in the country on February 26th, and published the first sequencing of the virus in South America two days later.
In total, Fiocruz has trained at least 13 laboratories in the country to test and diagnose Covid-19, in addition to nine other Latin American countries.
With Fiocruz as a reference in the continent, it will be able to accept samples for confirmation of deaths and to support countries with a smaller structure, such as Ecuador, which is experiencing an increase in cases and an overload of its health system.