title: 2014 ebola outbreak: media events track changes in observed reproductive number.
abstract: In this commentary, we consider the relationship between early outbreak changes in the observed reproductive number of Ebola in West Africa and various media reported interventions and aggravating events. We find that media reports of interventions that provided education, minimized contact, or strengthened healthcare were typically followed by sustained transmission reductions in both Sierra Leone and Liberia. Meanwhile, media reports of aggravating events generally preceded temporary transmission increases in both countries. Given these preliminary findings, we conclude that media reported events could potentially be incorporated into future epidemic modeling efforts to improve mid-outbreak case projections.
authors.affiliation: Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Engineering Systems Division, Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA.
authors.forename: Maimuna S
authors.initials: MS
authors.lastname: Majumder
authors.affiliation: Boston Children's Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts, USA.
authors.forename: Sheryl
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Kluberg
authors.affiliation: School of Engineering and Applied Sciences, Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA.
authors.forename: Mauricio
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Santillana
authors.affiliation: Boston Children's Hospital, Emergency Medicine, Boston, Massachusetts, USA.
authors.forename: Sumiko
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Mekaru
authors.affiliation: Boston Children's Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts, USA.
authors.forename: John S
authors.initials: JS
authors.lastname: Brownstein
keywords: Liberia; Sierra Leone; ebola; interventions; media; reproductive number