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Quantifying Poverty as a Driver of Ebola Transmission

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  • Mosoka P Fallah
  • Laura A Skrip
  • Shai Gertler
  • Dan Yamin
  • Alison P Galvani

Abstract

Background: Poverty has been implicated as a challenge in the control of the current Ebola outbreak in West Africa. Although disparities between affected countries have been appreciated, disparities within West African countries have not been investigated as drivers of Ebola transmission. To quantify the role that poverty plays in the transmission of Ebola, we analyzed heterogeneity of Ebola incidence and transmission factors among over 300 communities, categorized by socioeconomic status (SES), within Montserrado County, Liberia. Methodology/Principal Findings: We evaluated 4,437 Ebola cases reported between February 28, 2014 and December 1, 2014 for Montserrado County to determine SES-stratified temporal trends and drivers of Ebola transmission. A dataset including dates of symptom onset, hospitalization, and death, and specified community of residence was used to stratify cases into high, middle and low SES. Additionally, information about 9,129 contacts was provided for a subset of 1,585 traced individuals. To evaluate transmission within and across socioeconomic subpopulations, as well as over the trajectory of the outbreak, we analyzed these data with a time-dependent stochastic model. Cases in the most impoverished communities reported three more contacts on average than cases in high SES communities (p

Suggested Citation

  • Mosoka P Fallah & Laura A Skrip & Shai Gertler & Dan Yamin & Alison P Galvani, 2015. "Quantifying Poverty as a Driver of Ebola Transmission," PLOS Neglected Tropical Diseases, Public Library of Science, vol. 9(12), pages 1-9, December.
    • Handle: RePEc:plo:pntd00:0004260
    DOI: 10.1371/journal.pntd.0004260
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    Cited by:

    1. Peter J Hotez, 2016. "Neglected Tropical Diseases in the Anthropocene: The Cases of Zika, Ebola, and Other Infections," PLOS Neglected Tropical Diseases, Public Library of Science, vol. 10(4), pages 1-6, April.
    2. Gonzalez, Robert & Maffioli, Elisa M., 2024. "Is the phone mightier than the virus? Cellphone access and epidemic containment efforts," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 167(C).
    3. Begoña Cabeza; & Shaun Da Costa;, 2023. "Taxation for development: the impact of the Ebola epidemic on citizen support across Western Africa," Working Papers 2307, Herman Deleeck Centre for Social Policy, University of Antwerp.
    4. Maffioli, Elisa M., 2021. "The political economy of health epidemics: Evidence from the Ebola outbreak," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 151(C).
    5. Blair, Robert A. & Morse, Benjamin S. & Tsai, Lily L., 2017. "Public health and public trust: Survey evidence from the Ebola Virus Disease epidemic in Liberia," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 172(C), pages 89-97.
    6. Soumahoro, Souleymane, 2020. "Ethnic politics and Ebola response in West Africa," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 135(C).

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