title: A comprehensive database of the geographic spread of past human Ebola outbreaks.
abstract: Ebola is a zoonotic filovirus that has the potential to cause outbreaks of variable magnitude in human populations. This database collates our existing knowledge of all known human outbreaks of Ebola for the first time by extracting details of their suspected zoonotic origin and subsequent human-to-human spread from a range of published and non-published sources. In total, 22 unique Ebola outbreaks were identified, composed of 117 unique geographic transmission clusters. Details of the index case and geographic spread of secondary and imported cases were recorded as well as summaries of patient numbers and case fatality rates. A brief text summary describing suspected routes and means of spread for each outbreak was also included. While we cannot yet include the ongoing Guinea and DRC outbreaks until they are over, these data and compiled maps can be used to gain an improved understanding of the initial spread of past Ebola outbreaks and help evaluate surveillance and control guidelines for limiting the spread of future epidemics.
authors.affiliation: Spatial Ecology & Epidemiology Group, Department of Zoology, University of Oxford , Oxford, OX1 3PS, UK.
authors.forename: Adrian
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Mylne
authors.affiliation: Spatial Ecology & Epidemiology Group, Department of Zoology, University of Oxford , Oxford, OX1 3PS, UK.
authors.forename: Oliver J
authors.initials: OJ
authors.lastname: Brady
authors.affiliation: Spatial Ecology & Epidemiology Group, Department of Zoology, University of Oxford , Oxford, OX1 3PS, UK.
authors.forename: Zhi
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Huang
authors.affiliation: Spatial Ecology & Epidemiology Group, Department of Zoology, University of Oxford , Oxford, OX1 3PS, UK.
authors.forename: David M
authors.initials: DM
authors.lastname: Pigott
authors.affiliation: Spatial Ecology & Epidemiology Group, Department of Zoology, University of Oxford , Oxford, OX1 3PS, UK.
authors.forename: Nick
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Golding
authors.affiliation: Spatial Ecology & Epidemiology Group, Department of Zoology, University of Oxford , Oxford, OX1 3PS, UK.
authors.forename: Moritz U G
authors.initials: MU
authors.lastname: Kraemer
authors.affiliation: Spatial Ecology & Epidemiology Group, Department of Zoology, University of Oxford , Oxford, OX1 3PS, UK ; Fogarty International Center, National Institutes of Health , Bethesda, MD 20892-2220, USA.
authors.forename: Simon I
authors.initials: SI
authors.lastname: Hay
mesh_terms: D016208:Databases, Factual; D004196:Disease Outbreaks; D029043:Ebolavirus; D019142:Hemorrhagic Fever, Ebola / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000635:transmission; D006801:Humans