The spread of cholera in western Democratic Republic of the Congo is not unidirectional from East-West: a spatiotemporal analysis, 1973-2018.

ABSTRACT:

Background

Cholera outbreaks in western Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) are thought to be primarily the result of westward spread of cases from the Great Lakes Region. However, other patterns of spatial spread in this part of the country should not be excluded. The aim of this study was to explore alternative routes of spatial spread in western DRC.

Methods

A literature review was conducted to reconstruct major outbreak expansions of cholera in western DRC since its introduction in 1973. We also collected data on cholera cases reported at the health zone (HZ) scale by the national surveillance system during 2000-2018. Based on data from routine disease surveillance, we identified two subperiods (week 45, 2012-week 42, 2013 and week 40, 2017-week 52, 2018) for which th

SUBMITTER: Kayembe HCN 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8684622 | biostudies-literature | 2021 Dec

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature