As the number of confirmed COVID-19 cases increases around the world—with new clusters recently emerging in Italy, Iran and South Korea—the World Health Organization (WHO) warns that its “biggest worry” is to make sure that the disease does not spread in countries with weaker health systems that have historically struggled to contain infectious disease outbreaks in the past, many of which are in Africa. The WHO has prioritized response and detection measures in 13 African countries because of their direct links with or high volume of travel to and from China.