[en] Cholera is endemic along the Great Lakes Region, in eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). From these endemic areas, also under perpetual conflicts, outbreaks spread to other areas. However, the main routes of propagation remain unclear. This research aimed to explore the modalities and likely main routes of geographic spread of cholera from endemic areas in eastern DRC. We used historical reconstruction of major outbreak expansions of cholera since its introduction in eastern DRC, maps of distribution and spatiotemporal cluster detection analyses of cholera data from passive surveillance (2000-2017) to describe the spread dynamics of cholera from eastern DRC. Four modalities of geographic spread and their likely main routes from the source areas of epidemics to other areas were identified: in endemic eastern provinces, and in non-endemic provinces of eastern, central and western DRC. Using non-parametric statistics, we found that the higher the number of conflict events reported in eastern DRC, the greater the geographic spread of cholera across the country. The present study revealed that the dynamics of the spread of cholera follow a fairly well-defined spatial logic and can therefore be predicted.
Research center :
SPHERES - ULiège
Disciplines :
Human health sciences: Multidisciplinary, general & others
Linard, Catherine; UNamur - Université de Namur > Géographie
Bompangue, Didier; Université de Kinshasa > Sciences de Base
Muwonga, Jérémie; Université de Kinshasa > Biologie Médicale
MOUTSCHEN, Michel ; Université de Liège - ULiège > Département des sciences cliniques > Immunopathologie - Maladies infectieuses et médecine interne générale
Situakibanza, Hippolyte; Université de Kinshasa > Médecine Interne
Ozer, Pierre ; Université de Liège - ULiège > DER Sc. et gest. de l'environnement (Arlon Campus Environ.) > DER Sc. et gest. de l'environnement (Arlon Campus Environ.)
Language :
English
Title :
Modalities and preferred routes of geographic spread of cholera from endemic areas in eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo
Alternative titles :
Modalités et voies préférentielles de propagation géographique du choléra à partir des zones endémiques de l'est de la République démocratique du Congo
Publication date :
07 February 2022
Journal title :
PLoS ONE
eISSN :
1932-6203
Publisher :
Public Library of Science, United States - California
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