As Director of the CTBTO's International Data Centre (IDC) from 2004 to 2013, he was the focal point on CTBT issues related to the nuclear tests conducted by the Democratic People's Republic of Korea in 2006, 2009 and 2013.

Zerbo secured China's resumed technical cooperation with the CTBTO, leading to the certification of the first five International Monitoring System stations on Chinese territory between 2016 and 2018.

He served as the custodian of all technically sensitive information of the organization, which was called on following the earthquake, tsunami and Fukushima nuclear power plant accident in Japan in March 2011.

[5] On 23 January 2022, Zerbo and Kaboré were deposed in a coup led by military officer Paul-Henri Sandaogo Damiba who took over as President of Burkina Faso.

In August 2019 Zerbo was awarded the Republic of Kazakhstan's Nazarbayev Prize for a Nuclear-Weapons-Free World and Global Security, jointly with the late Director of the International Atomic Energy Angency, Yukiya Amano.

[13] Cited for his outstanding contribution to nuclear disarmament and peace in the world, Zerbo was presented with Development Champion Award of the Forum for Rebranding Africa in November 2019.