Mapping of Ebola virus spillover: Suitability and seasonal variability at the landscape scale.

ABSTRACT: The unexpected Ebola virus outbreak in West Africa in 2014 involving the Zaire ebolavirus made clear that other regions outside Central Africa, its previously documented niche, were at risk of future epidemics. The complex transmission cycle and a lack of epidemiological data make mapping areas at risk of the disease challenging. We used a Geographic Information System-based multicriteria evaluation (GIS-MCE), a knowledge-based approach, to identify areas suitable for Ebola virus spillover to humans in regions of Guinea, Congo and Gabon where Ebola viruses already emerged. We identified environmental, climatic and anthropogenic risk factors and potential hosts from a literature review. Geographical data layers, representing risk factors, were combined to produce suitability maps of Ebola v

SUBMITTER: Lee-Cruz L 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8425568 | biostudies-literature | 2021 Aug

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature