Publication

The exacerbation of Ebola outbreaks by conflict in the Democratic Republic of the Congo

Authored by:

Wells, C. R., Pandey, A., Mbah, M. L. N., Gaüzère, B. A., Malvy, D., Singer, B. H., & Galvani, A. P.

Full Citation:

Wells, C. R., Pandey, A., Mbah, M. L. N., Gaüzère, B. A., Malvy, D., Singer, B. H., & Galvani, A. P. 2019. The exacerbation of Ebola outbreaks by conflict in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. 116(48).

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Additional key concepts from this publication:

The risk of communicable disease outbreaks are greatly increased during humanitarian emergencies.

Key Evidence: This modeling study examined the impact of conflict events on disease control efforts during an Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. The model used a timeline of conflict events and an ethnographic appraisal of attacks on health care workers and treatment centers to estimate their impact on the epidemic trajectory of Ebola. Overall, the population-level effectiveness of vaccination was reduced by 43% due to disruptive conflict events. The researchers also found that declining incidence of Ebola was repeatedly reversed by conflict events. This framework can be extended to other diseases and regions experiencing conflict.