Publications
1.
Tessema, Sofonias; Wesolowski, Amy; Chen, Anna; Murphy, Maxwell; Wilheim, Jordan; Mupiri, Anna-Rosa; Ruktanonchai, Nick W; Alegana, Victor A; Tatem, Andrew J; Tambo, Munyaradzi; Didier, Bradley; Cohen, Justin M; Bennett, Adam; Sturrock, Hugh JW; Gosling, Roland; Hsiang, Michelle S; Smith, David L; Mumbengegwi, Davis R; Smith, Jennifer L; Greenhouse, Bryan
Using parasite genetic and human mobility data to infer local and cross-border malaria connectivity in Southern Africa Journal Article
In: eLife, vol. 8, pp. e43510, 2019, ISSN: 2050-084X.
Abstract | Links | BibTeX | Tags: genetic epidemiology, malaria, Mobility, parasite genomics
@article{10.7554/eLife.43510,
title = {Using parasite genetic and human mobility data to infer local and cross-border malaria connectivity in Southern Africa},
author = {Sofonias Tessema and Amy Wesolowski and Anna Chen and Maxwell Murphy and Jordan Wilheim and Anna-Rosa Mupiri and Nick W Ruktanonchai and Victor A Alegana and Andrew J Tatem and Munyaradzi Tambo and Bradley Didier and Justin M Cohen and Adam Bennett and Hugh JW Sturrock and Roland Gosling and Michelle S Hsiang and David L Smith and Davis R Mumbengegwi and Jennifer L Smith and Bryan Greenhouse},
editor = {Ben Cooper and Neil M Ferguson and Samir Bhatt and Thomas S Churcher},
url = {https://doi.org/10.7554/eLife.43510},
doi = {10.7554/eLife.43510},
issn = {2050-084X},
year = {2019},
date = {2019-04-01},
journal = {eLife},
volume = {8},
pages = {e43510},
publisher = {eLife Sciences Publications, Ltd},
abstract = {Local and cross-border importation remain major challenges to malaria elimination and are difficult to measure using traditional surveillance data. To address this challenge, we systematically collected parasite genetic data and travel history from thousands of malaria cases across northeastern Namibia and estimated human mobility from mobile phone data. We observed strong fine-scale spatial structure in local parasite populations, providing positive evidence that the majority of cases were due to local transmission. This result was largely consistent with estimates from mobile phone and travel history data. However, genetic data identified more detailed and extensive evidence of parasite connectivity over hundreds of kilometers than the other data, within Namibia and across the Angolan and Zambian borders. Our results provide a framework for incorporating genetic data into malaria surveillance and provide evidence that both strengthening of local interventions and regional coordination are likely necessary to eliminate malaria in this region of Southern Africa.},
keywords = {genetic epidemiology, malaria, Mobility, parasite genomics},
pubstate = {published},
tppubtype = {article}
}
Local and cross-border importation remain major challenges to malaria elimination and are difficult to measure using traditional surveillance data. To address this challenge, we systematically collected parasite genetic data and travel history from thousands of malaria cases across northeastern Namibia and estimated human mobility from mobile phone data. We observed strong fine-scale spatial structure in local parasite populations, providing positive evidence that the majority of cases were due to local transmission. This result was largely consistent with estimates from mobile phone and travel history data. However, genetic data identified more detailed and extensive evidence of parasite connectivity over hundreds of kilometers than the other data, within Namibia and across the Angolan and Zambian borders. Our results provide a framework for incorporating genetic data into malaria surveillance and provide evidence that both strengthening of local interventions and regional coordination are likely necessary to eliminate malaria in this region of Southern Africa.
