When Mpox, Ebola, Marburg and anthrax strike in East Africa, they do not stop at border posts. They move with people, livestock and trade routes — testing the strength of national health systems and regional solidarity alike.
In response, the East African Community (EAC) has established one of its most strategic assets for health security: the Rapidly Deployable Expert (RDE) Pool — a growing corps of trained professionals ready to cross borders at short notice to contain outbreaks and strengthen preparedness.
Developed with support from the German Government through Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH under the EAC Support to Pandemic Preparedness (PanPrep) Project, the RDE Pool is more than an emergency roster. It is a long-term investment in the region’s health workforce.
From National Responders to a Regional Force
The RDE Pool brings together public health and emergency response professionals from across EAC Partner States. Doctors, veterinarians, laboratory scientists, nurses, epidemiologists, environmental health specialists and risk communication experts are trained under a shared framework guided by the One Health approach — recognizing the interconnectedness of human, animal and environmental health.
For many experts, the experience has been transformative. “Before joining the RDE Pool, my experience with outbreaks was largely national and reactive,” says Dr. Eddy Idufashe, an RDE member and trainer from Rwanda. “Through RDE trainings, I gained practical skills in risk communication, infection prevention and coordinated response that I now apply both at home and across borders.”
Through continuous training, mentoring, simulation exercises and post-deployment learning, the RDE mechanism ensures that knowledge does not disappear after a crisis. Instead, it builds institutional memory and a sustainable pipeline of skilled responders across the region.
Speaking during the first official deployment of RDE experts, the EAC Secretary General, Veronica Nduva, underscored the urgency of collective action noting that infectious diseases had no boundaries.
“The EAC region is known for continuous movement of people and goods, and we are experiencing recurrent infectious disease outbreaks, often spreading from animals to humans. The RDE Pool will operate within a broader ecosystem of partnerships, including collaboration with Africa CDC, WHO and the German Government to ensure a well-coordinated, efficient and timely responses.” She explained.
Joint Risk Assessment: Preparing Before the Next Outbreak
One of the clearest demonstrations of the RDE Pool’s impact came in late 2025, when experts from the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), South Sudan and Uganda gathered in Entebbe for a Joint Risk Assessment (JRA) on anthrax and Mpox.
Using the WHO Tripartite JRA framework, participants analysed outbreak likelihood, mapped risk pathways and agreed on mitigation and communication strategies where each Partner States finalised their JRA report to inform national preparedness — strengthening cross-border coordination in a region where diseases often spread along shared ecosystems and trade routes.
Running alongside the workshop was a Training of Trainers programme attended by over 100 frontline professionals from medical and veterinary doctors, laboratory personnel and hospital administrators. Through simulations and case studies, participants sharpened skills in infection prevention and control (IPC), clinical management, multisectoral outbreak coordination and risk communication, ensuring that knowledge is cascaded nationally and sub-nationally long after the workshop ends.
Additionally, the EAC Secretariat in partnership with the German Epidemic Preparedness Team (SEEG) and Africa CDC’s Africa Volunteer Health Corps organised major regional IPC trainings where more that sixty health care professionals from Tanzania, Burundi, Rwanda, Uganda, Kenya and South Sudan were trained on Marburg Virus Disease outbreak. Prior to this, 160 health workers and community leaders in North and South Kivu in DRC had been trained on IPC and risk communication in response to Mpox.
Beyond the trainings, IPC supplies including handwashing stations, personal protective equipment and disinfection materials were provided to strengthen infection control at facility level. “Training health workers through the RDE platform is not just about transferring knowledge, it is about building confidence and readiness before an emergency happens,” says Robert Hongo, an RDE trainer from Tanzania.
Extending Preparedness to multisectoral composition
In efforts to extend preparedness at border points, the RDE Pool partnered with the International Organization for Migration (IOM), the Kenya National Public Health Institute, Africa CDC’s Africa Volunteer Health Corps and SEEG to strengthen Marburg preparedness where over fifty county officials and healthcare workers participated in a two-week training in Lodwar, Kenya.
The February 2026 training aimed at improving IPC and risk communication skills and aligning protocols amid heightened regional risk following outbreaks in neighbouring Ethiopia. The training also emphasised cascade learning to extend preparedness across Northern Kenya.
A defining feature of the RDE Pool is its multisectoral composition. Veterinary and environmental health professionals stand alongside clinicians, reflecting the reality that many outbreaks in the region are zoonotic — transmitted from animals to humans.
“Health security is not only about hospitals,” says Dr. Angelo Goup Thon, an RDE member from South Sudan. “Through the RDE Pool, professionals from veterinary medicine, food safety and environmental health are integrated into preparedness and response. This One Health approach strengthens prevention at the source.”
For experts like Venant Luvalya from DRC, cross-border deployment has been professionally enriching. “Being deployed outside my own country helped me understand regional dynamics and gaps, and strengthened my own professional growth,” he notes.
As outbreaks continue to challenge global health systems, East Africa is positioning itself differently, by investing in people before the next crisis strikes. The RDE Pool is fast becoming a cornerstone of regional health workforce development — equipping professionals with shared standards, shared skills and shared purpose. In doing so, the EAC is not only improving emergency response capacity but also building a resilient, integrated and future-ready health security workforce for the region.