Assessment of Community Event-Based Surveillance for Ebola Virus Disease, Sierra Leone, 2015

Emerg Infect Dis. 2016 Aug;22(8):1431-7. doi: 10.3201/eid2208.160205.

Abstract

In 2015, community event-based surveillance (CEBS) was implemented in Sierra Leone to assist with the detection of Ebola virus disease (EVD) cases. We assessed the sensitivity of CEBS for finding EVD cases during a 7-month period, and in a 6-week subanalysis, we assessed the timeliness of reporting cases with no known epidemiologic links at time of detection. Of the 12,126 CEBS reports, 287 (2%) met the suspected case definition, and 16 were confirmed positive. CEBS detected 30% (16/53) of the EVD cases identified during the study period. During the subanalysis, CEBS staff identified 4 of 6 cases with no epidemiologic links. These CEBS-detected cases were identified more rapidly than those detected by the national surveillance system; however, too few cases were detected to determine system timeliness. Although CEBS detected EVD cases, it largely generated false alerts. Future versions of community-based surveillance could improve case detection through increased staff training and community engagement.

Keywords: Ebola virus; Ebola virus disease; Sierra Leone; West Africa; community; community event–based surveillance; detection; epidemic; epidemiologic link; epidemiology; event triggers; surveillance; transmission; viruses.

MeSH terms

  • Adult
  • Communicable Disease Control / methods*
  • Disease Outbreaks / prevention & control
  • Female
  • Hemorrhagic Fever, Ebola / epidemiology*
  • Humans
  • Male
  • Middle Aged
  • Population Surveillance* / methods
  • Sierra Leone / epidemiology
  • Young Adult