Improving mapping for Ebola response through mobilising a local community with self-owned smartphones: Tonkolili District, Sierra Leone, January 2015

Publishing date: 2018-01-03

Published on: PLOS ONE

summary: During the 2014–16 Ebola virus disease (EVD) outbreak, the Magburaka Ebola Management Centre (EMC) operated by Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) in Tonkolili District, Sierra Leone, identified that available district maps lacked up-to-date village information to facilitate timely implementation of EVD control strategies. In January 2015, Laura M. Nic Lochlainn and colleagues undertook a survey in chiefdoms within the MSF EMC catchment area to collect mapping and village data. Here, they investigate the feasibility and cost to mobilise a local community for this survey, describe validation against existing mapping sources and use of the data to prioritise areas for interventions, and lessons learned.

authors: Laura M. Nic Lochlainn, Ivan Gayton, Georgios Theocharopoulos, Robin Edwards, Kostas Danis, Ronald Kremer, Karline Kleijer, Sumaila M. Tejan, Mohamed Sankoh, Augustin Jimissa, Jane Greig, Grazia Caleo

link to paper: 10.1371/journal.pone.0189959

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