SARS-CoV-2 RT-PCR test circuit: Experience of Institute Pasteur de Côte d’Ivoire

The COVID-19 pandemic is caused by a microorganism in the Coronavirus family, SARS-CoV-2. It began in December 2019 in Wuhan, China, before spreading very rapidly to all regions of the world. In Côte d'Ivoire, the first case was detected on 11 March 2020. To combat this pandemic effectively, the government has drawn up a response plan. The Institut Pasteur de Côte d'Ivoire (IPCI) has been mandated to carry out RT-PCR analyses on all samples taken in the centers set up for this purpose. In carrying out this mission, the IPCI has mobilised several of its units, whose tasks include reception, decontamination, aliquoting, extraction, amplification, data entry and validation of results. These various tasks make up the sample circuit in the Institute. To curb this pandemic, the World Health Organization (WHO) has recommended early and timely identification of infected people by laboratory diagnosis using Nuclear Acid Amplification Tests (NAATs). In this context, the IPCI has acquired a number of cutting-edge pieces of equipment, including automatic extractors, amplifiers and high-throughput sequencers. This equipment has enabled it to carry out more than one million six hundred thousand RT-PCR tests, or 98% of the tests carried out nationwide. By adhering to this schedule, we were able to meet the government's requirements, which were to deliver quality results within a short timeframe to patients, contact subjects and prospective travellers.