Spatial Determinants of Ebola Virus Disease Risk for the West African Epidemic

In this study, we sought to identify environmental and population-level demographic spatial predictors of human EVD risk from the recent West African epidemic. MATERIALS AND METHODS Study area The study included the three West African countries with widespread EVD transmission: Guinea, Liberia, and Sierra Leone. Guinea has an estimated population of 11,780,00025 and covers an area of 245,860 km2 including terrain consisting of costal mangrove plains, forested highlands, and savannah plains.26 Guinea has a tropical climate with a rainy season (April to October) and a dry season (November to March).25 Liberia has an area of 111,370 km2 with an estimated population of 4,196,000. Its terrain ranges from sandy coastal plains to rolling hills and rolling plateau, with low mountains in the northeast.26 Liberia has a warm, humid climate with a rainy season from May to October and a dry season from November to April. Sierra Leone’s estimated 5,879,000 population is contained within an area of 71,740 km.25 It has coastal mangrove swamps, wooded hills, an upland plateau and mountains in the east. Sierra Leone experiences a tropical climate with a rainy season from May to October and a dry season from November to April.26 Data Publicly available data from the World Health Organization (WHO) included weekly counts of confirmed EVD by prefecture (Guinea, n=34), county (Liberia, n=15), and district (Sierra Leone, n=14) as of May 13, 2015.27We calculated the cumulativ...
Source: PLOS Currents Outbreaks - Category: Epidemiology Authors: Source Type: research