The challenges of open data for future epidemic preparedness: The experience of the 2022 Ebolavirus outbreak in Uganda

Abstract

On 20 September 2022, the Ministry of Health in Uganda, together with the World Health Organization—Regional Office for Africa (WHO AFRO) confirmed an outbreak of EVD due to Sudan ebolavirus in Mubende District, after one fatal case was confirmed. Real-time information are needed to provide crucial information to understand transmissibility, risk of geographical spread, routes of transmission, risk factors of infection, and provide the basis for epidemiological modelling that can inform response and containment planning to reduce the burden of disease. We made an effort to build a centralized repository of the Ebola virus cases from verified sources, providing information on dates of symptom onset, locations (aggregated to the district level), and when available, the gender and status of hospitals, reporting bed capacity and isolation unit occupancy rate according to the severity status of the patient. The proposed data repository provides researchers and policymakers timely, complete, and easy-accessible data to monitor the most recent trends of the Ebola outbreak in Ugandan districts with informative graphical outputs. This favors a rapid global response to the disease, enabling governments to prioritize and adjust their decisions quickly and effectively in response to the rapidly evolving emergency, with a solid data basis.