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. 2024 Aug 22;12(8):946.
doi: 10.3390/vaccines12080946.

The Global Measles and Rubella Laboratory Network Supports High-Quality Surveillance

Paul A Rota  1 , Roger Evans  2 , Myriam Corinne Ben Mamou  3 , Gloria Rey-Benito  4 , Lucky Sangal  5 , Annick Dosseh  6 , Amany Ghoniem  7 , Charles R Byabamazima  6 , Maurice Demanou  6 , Raydel Anderson  1 , Gimin Kim  1 , Bettina Bankamp  1 , R Suzanne Beard  1 , Stephen N Crooke  1 , Sumathi Ramachandran  1 , Ana Penedos  8 , Vicki Stambos  9 , Suellen Nicholson  9 , David Featherstone  10 , Mick N Mulders  11
Affiliations

The Global Measles and Rubella Laboratory Network Supports High-Quality Surveillance

Paul A Rota et al. Vaccines (Basel). .

Abstract

With 762 laboratories, the Global Measles and Rubella Laboratory Network (GMRLN) is the largest laboratory network coordinated by the World Health Organization (WHO). Like the Global Polio Laboratory Network, the GMRLN has multiple tiers, including global specialized laboratories, regional reference laboratories, national laboratories, and, in some countries, subnational laboratories. Regional networks are supervised by regional laboratory coordinators reporting to a global coordinator at WHO headquarters. Laboratories in the GMRLN have strong links to national disease control and vaccination programs. The GMRLN's goal is to support member states in obtaining timely, complete, and reliable laboratory-based surveillance data for measles and rubella as part of the strategy for achieving measles and rubella elimination. Surveillance data are reported to the national program and are included in annual reports on the status of measles and rubella elimination to national verification committees for review by regional verification commissions. Quality within the GMRLN is ensured by monitoring performance through external quality assurance programs, confirmatory and quality control testing, accreditation, and coordination of corrective action and training where needed. The overall performance of the laboratories has remained high over the years despite many challenges, particularly the COVID-19 pandemic. The GMRLN is well-positioned to support high-quality laboratory-based surveillance for measles and rubella and to transition to supporting laboratory testing for other pathogens, including vaccine-preventable diseases.

Keywords: PCR; WHO; diagnostics; measles-rubella laboratory; network; serology.

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Conflict of interest statement

Author David Featherstone was employed by the company Consultant Scientists Ltd. The remaining authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Structure and governance of GMRLN. Panel (A) shows the number of GSLs, RRLs, NLs, and SNLs by WHO region in 2024. Panel (B) shows the tiered structure of GMRLN with a summary of the major functions at each level. Curved lines indicate technical assistance and supervision.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Map of GMRLN. Yellow circles indicate the locations of GSLs. Red circles indicate RRLs. Light blue circles indicate NLs. Blue circles indicate SNLs.
Figure 3
Figure 3
Heatmap showing the number of measles (panel (A)) and rubella (panel (B)) sequences submitted to MeaNS and RubeNS by genotype for the year 2014 through March 2024.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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