title: The rubber plantation environment and Lassa fever epidemics in Liberia, 2008-2012: a spatial regression.
abstract: As Lassa fever continues to be a public health challenge in West Africa, it is critical to produce good maps of its risk pattern for use in active surveillance and control intervention. We identified eight spatial features related to the rubber plantation environment and used them as explanatory variables for Lassa fever (LF) outbreaks on the Uniroyal Liberian Agricultural Company (LAC) rubber plantation environment in Grand Bassa County, Liberia. We computed classical and spatial lag regression models on all spatial features, including proximity of residential camp to rubber tree-edge, main road in the plantation, LAC hospital, rice farmland, household refuse dump, human population density, post-harvest storage density of rice and density of rodent deterrent on rice storage. We found significant (p=0.0024) spatial autocorrelation between LF cases and the spatial features we have considered. We concluded that the rubber plantation environment influenced Mastomys species' breeding and transmission of Lassa virus along spatial scale to humans. The risk factors identified in this study offered a baseline for more effective surveillance and control of LF in the post-civil conflict Liberia.
authors.affiliation: Centre for Control and Prevention of Zoonoses (CCPZ), 101 Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, University of Ibadan, 200002 Ibadan, Oyo State, Nigeria; Department of Veterinary Public Health and Preventive Medicine, University of Ibadan, Nigeria, 200002 Ibadan, Oyo State, Nigeria. Electronic address: bolugasa@yahoo.com.
authors.forename: Babasola O
authors.initials: BO
authors.lastname: Olugasa
authors.affiliation: Centre for Control and Prevention of Zoonoses (CCPZ), 101 Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, University of Ibadan, 200002 Ibadan, Oyo State, Nigeria; Ministry of Health and Social Welfare, National Diagnostics Unit, Congo Town, Ministry of Health Complex, P.O. Box 9009, 1000 Monrovia 10, Liberia. Electronic address: dogba484@gmail.com.
authors.forename: John B
authors.initials: JB
authors.lastname: Dogba
authors.affiliation: Centre for Control and Prevention of Zoonoses (CCPZ), 101 Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, University of Ibadan, 200002 Ibadan, Oyo State, Nigeria.
authors.forename: Bamidele
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Ogunro
authors.affiliation: Centre for Control and Prevention of Zoonoses (CCPZ), 101 Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, University of Ibadan, 200002 Ibadan, Oyo State, Nigeria. Electronic address: eugeneodigie@yahoo.com.
authors.forename: Eugene A
authors.initials: EA
authors.lastname: Odigie
authors.affiliation: Centre for Control and Prevention of Zoonoses (CCPZ), 101 Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, University of Ibadan, 200002 Ibadan, Oyo State, Nigeria; Central Agricultural Research Institute, Suakoko, Bong County, P.O. Box 3929, Monrovia 10, Liberia. Electronic address: nydorjo@yahoo.com.
authors.forename: Jomah
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Nykoi
authors.affiliation: Department of Statistics, Faculty of Science, University of Ibadan, Ibadan 200002, Oyo State, Nigeria. Electronic address: jfunminiyiojo@yahoo.co.uk.
authors.forename: Johnson F
authors.initials: JF
authors.lastname: Ojo
authors.affiliation: Department of Geography, Faculty of Social Sciences, University of Ibadan, 200002 Ibadan, Oyo State, Nigeria. Electronic address: olalekantaiwo@gmail.com.
authors.forename: Olalekan
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Taiwo
authors.affiliation: Ministry of Agriculture Sub-office, Korean Farm, Buchanan, Grand Bassa County, Liberia. Electronic address: abrahimkamara600@yahoo.com.
authors.forename: Abraham
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Kamara
authors.affiliation: College of Agriculture and Sustainable Development, Cuttington University, Suakoko, Bong County, P.O. Box 10-0277, 1000 Monrovia 10, Liberia. Electronic address: ckmulbah@yahoo.com.
authors.forename: Charles K
authors.initials: CK
authors.lastname: Mulbah
authors.affiliation: Centre for Control and Prevention of Zoonoses (CCPZ), 101 Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, University of Ibadan, 200002 Ibadan, Oyo State, Nigeria; Department of Otorhinolaryngology, College of Medicine, University of Ibadan, 200002 Ibadan, Oyo State, Nigeria. Electronic address: ayofasunla@yahoo.com.
authors.forename: Ayotunde J
authors.initials: AJ
authors.lastname: Fasunla
mesh_terms: D000383:Agriculture; D058872:Epidemics / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D006801:Humans; D007835:Lassa Fever / Q000453:epidemiology*; D007988:Liberia / Q000453:epidemiology; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D012408:Rubber; D062206:Spatial Analysis
chemical_list: D012408:Rubber
keywords: Lassa fever; Mastomys; Plantation environment; Risk factor; Spatial epidemiology