Abstract
The recent outbreak of Ebola Virus Disease (EVD) in West Africa has ravaged many lives. Effective containment of this outbreak relies on prompt and effective coordination and communication across various interventions; early detection and response being critical to successful control. The use of information and communications technology (ICT) in active surveillance has proved to be effective but its use in Ebola outbreak response has been limited. Due to the need for timeliness in reporting and communication for early discovery of new EVD cases and promptness in response; it became imperative to empower the response team members with technologies and solutions which would enable smooth and rapid data flow. The Open Data Kit and Form Hub technology were used in combination with the Dashboard technology and ArcGIS mapping for follow up of contacts, identification of cases, case investigation and management and also for strategic planning during the response. A remarkable improvement was recorded in the reporting of daily follow-up of contacts after the deployment of the integrated real time technology. The turnaround time between identification of symptomatic contacts and evacuation to the isolation facility and also for receipt of laboratory results was reduced and informed decisions could be taken by all concerned. Accountability in contact tracing was ensured by the use of a GPS enabled device. The use of innovative technologies in the response of the EVD outbreak in Nigeria contributed significantly to the prompt control of the outbreak and containment of the disease by providing a valuable platform for early warning and guiding early actions.
Highlights
The recent outbreak of Ebola Virus Disease (EVD) in West Africa has been declared by the World Health Organization (WHO) as the world's deadliest international health emergency in the modern time.[1]
Transfer of information is central to effective coordination and communication across these interventions, early detection and early response which are key to a successful EVD control The use of active surveillance which consists of close supervision and systematic timely collection of vital signs and key clinical symptoms from contacts to EVD cases is critical to the effective control of EVD.[2]
This paper describes the innovative use of public health informatics tools to improve response to an Ebola virus disease outbreak in Nigeria
Summary
The recent outbreak of Ebola Virus Disease (EVD) in West Africa has been declared by the World Health Organization (WHO) as the world's deadliest international health emergency in the modern time.[1]. Heavy traffic within the cities made it almost impossible for the Contact tracers to submit daily follow up reports on the health status of over 800 Contacts who lived at different communities scattered across 23 Local Government Areas with 17 in Lagos and 6 in Port Harcourt. Previous experience gained in using the ODK by members of the IT team during Polio surveys and enumeration of hard to reach areas in the country served as a leverage in deploying these techniques. Both ODK and Formhub are open-source and free which need just smartphones and cloud servers to digitalize data collection.
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