Inferring the risk factors behind the geographical spread and transmission of Zika in the Americas.

ABSTRACT:

Background

An unprecedented Zika virus epidemic occurred in the Americas during 2015-2016. The size of the epidemic in conjunction with newly recognized health risks associated with the virus attracted significant attention across the research community. Our study complements several recent studies which have mapped epidemiological elements of Zika, by introducing a newly proposed methodology to simultaneously estimate the contribution of various risk factors for geographic spread resulting in local transmission and to compute the risk of spread (or re-introductions) between each pair of regions. The focus of our analysis is on the Americas, where the set of regions includes all countries, overseas territories, and the states of the US.

Methodology/principal findings

We pres

SUBMITTER: Gardner LM 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5790294 | biostudies-literature | 2018 Jan

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature