West African laboratory scientists have urged governments to strengthen their ability to detect disease outbreaks, warning that health systems across the region are weakening and may not be ready for another major epidemic.

The scientists issued the warning Friday in Togo's capital, Lome, where they gathered this week to assess the region's preparedness for disease outbreaks and its reliance on vaccines supplied by Western countries.

They called for greater cooperation among governments to improve disease surveillance and expand diagnostic capacity, citing lessons from Ebola and COVID-19 outbreaks over the past decade.

An Ebola outbreak between 2014 and 2016 killed at least 11,000 people across West Africa, most of them in Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone.

“We need to anticipate these outbreaks,” said Kossi Kabo, head of the Association of Medical Biologists of Togo and a co-chair of the congress. “We shouldn't wait for an epidemic to emerge somewhere before responding. By then, it would be too late.”

Africa remains vulnerable to disease outbreaks. The rare Bundibugyo virus has killed more than 3,600 people among nearly 7,500 reported cases in Congo since mid-May, when authorities announced a new deadly Ebola outbreak.

The Africa Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said the actual figures could be three times higher than official estimates. It also said the outbreak has become the fastest-spreading Ebola outbreak in history after the virus circulated undetected for several weeks.

Hantavirus was also detected on a cruise ship that docked off the Atlantic coast of Cape Verde in May.

Scientists said they were concerned that health systems may have received less attention and maintenance in the absence of a major outbreak, leaving the region less prepared for future epidemics.

Arthur Bodurie Calvin Garber, president of the Sierra Leone Association of Medical Laboratory Scientists, said governments must invest not only in health infrastructure but also in trained personnel.