Evidence map›Paper›PMID 31194734›Full record

ArticlePLoS neglected tropical diseases2019

Estimating undetected Ebola spillovers.

Emma E Glennon, Freya L Jephcott, Olivier Restif, James L N Wood

Abstract read
In one paragraph

Article in PLoS neglected tropical diseases, 2019. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 21 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
21citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

21 citing papers in PubMed.

  1. Article
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  5. Article
  6. Ecological monographs · 2025
    Article
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  10. Review
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  19. Article
  20. Bat-borne viruses in Africa: a critical review.Journal of zoology (London, England : 1987) · 2020
    Review
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

4 authors.

Emma E GlennonDepartment of Veterinary Medicine, University of Cambridge, Cambridge United Kingdom.ORCID 0000-0001-9540-1998
Freya L JephcottDepartment of Veterinary Medicine, University of Cambridge, Cambridge United Kingdom.
Olivier RestifDepartment of Veterinary Medicine, University of Cambridge, Cambridge United Kingdom.
James L N WoodDepartment of Veterinary Medicine, University of Cambridge, Cambridge United Kingdom.

Funding

Medical Research Council MR/P025226/1
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

The preparedness of health systems to detect, treat, and prevent onward transmission of Ebola virus disease (EVD) is central to mitigating future outbreaks. Early detection of outbreaks is critical to timely response, but estimating detection rates is difficult because unreported spillover events and outbreaks do not generate data. Using three independent datasets available on the distributions of secondary infections during EVD outbreaks across West Africa, in a single district (Western Area) of Sierra Leone, and in the city of Conakry, Guinea, we simulated realistic outbreak size distributions and compared them to reported outbreak sizes. These three empirical distributions lead to estimates for the proportion of detected spillover events and small outbreaks of 26% (range 8-40%, based on the full outbreak data), 48% (range 39-62%, based on the Sierra Leone data), and 17% (range 11-24%, based on the Guinea data). We conclude that at least half of all spillover events have failed to be reported since EVD was first recognized. We also estimate the probability of detecting outbreaks of different sizes, which is likely less than 10% for single-case spillover events. Comparing models of the observation process also suggests the probability of detecting an outbreak is not simply the cumulative probability of independently detecting any one individual. Rather, we find that any individual's probability of detection is highly dependent upon the size of the cluster of cases. These findings highlight the importance of primary health care and local case management to detect and contain undetected early stage outbreaks at source.

Indexed as

Disease OutbreaksDisease Transmission, InfectiousCommunicable Disease ControlGuineaHemorrhagic Fever, EbolaHumansSierra Leone

Identifiers

PMID31194734
PMCPMC6563953

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Registered trials

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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.