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Background Reports
Missing Bodies and Secret Funerals: The Production of “Safe and Dignified Burials” in the Liberian Ebola Crisis
During the height of the Ebola crisis in West Africa, public health responders and the international media focused on dead bodies as sites of disease transmission when early contact tracing discovered the relationship between attendance at funerals and emerging clusters…
Background Reports
Local Perceptions of Cholera and Anticipated Vaccine Acceptance in Katanga Province, Democratic Republic of Congo
In regions where access to clean water and the provision of a sanitary infrastructure has not been sustainable, Cholera continues to pose an important public health burden. Although oral Cholera vaccines (OCV) are effective means to complement classical Cholera control…
Background Reports
Local Disease-Ecosystem-Livelihood Dynamics: Reflections from Comparative Case Studies in Africa
This article explores the implications for human health of local interactions between disease, ecosystems and livelihoods. Five interdisciplinary case studies addressed zoonotic diseases in African settings: Rift Valley fever (RVF) in Kenya, human African trypanosomiasis in Zambia and Zimbabwe, Lassa…
Background Reports
Living with Bats: The Case of Ve Golokuati Township in the Volta Region of Ghana
Transmission of zoonotic pathogens from bats to humans through direct and indirect contact with bats raises public apprehension about living close to bats. In the township of Ve Golokuati in Ghana, several “camps” of Epomophorus gambianus roost in fruit trees…
Background Reports
Knowledge, Attitudes, and Practices Related to Meningitis in Northern Ghana
Meningitis has a significant impact in the Sahel, but the mechanisms for transmission and factors determining a person’s vulnerability are not well understood. Our survey examined the knowledge, attitudes, and practices of people in a meningitis-endemic area in the Upper…
Briefings
Knowledge, Attitudes and Practices of Lassa Fever in and around Lafia, Central Nigeria
This descriptive cross-sectional study assessed the knowledge, attitudes and practices of Lassa Fever in and around Lafia, Central Nigeria. Structured questionnaires were administered to 200 consenting respondents from urban and sub-urban areas in Lafia. Of the 200 respondents, 87% heard…
Background Reports
Knowledge, Attitudes and Practices (KAP) Study to Investigate the Health System of Circonscription Socio-Sanitaire (CSS) Ignié Ngabé, Department of Pool, Republic of Congo
It is important to understand a population’s health behaviours and their underlying determinants such as knowledge, attitudes and beliefs related to health, when we seek to deliver appropriate health care services that may increase health service utilization and ultimately population health.…
Background Reports
Institutional Choice and Fragmented Citizenship in Forestry and Development Interventions in Bikoro Territory of the Democratic Republic of Congo
Substantive citizenship is the ability of an individual to influence those who govern. In order to assess this ‘ability’, this study examined the powers of sanction possessed by individuals or groups and the accountability mechanisms at their disposal in three villages in…
Briefings
Implementation of an Ebola Virus Disease Vaccine Clinical Trial during the Ebola Epidemic in Liberia: Design, Procedures, and Challenge
The index case of the Ebola virus disease epidemic in West Africa is believed to have originated in Guinea. By June 2014, Guinea, Liberia, and Sierra Leone were in the midst of a full-blown and complex global health emergency. The…
Background Reports
Health Seeking Behaviour Among Suspected Cases of Cholera in Cameroonian Health Districts in Lake Chad Basin
Cholera outbreaks are recurrent in Cameroon and despite the efforts put together during epidemics, they are always associated with a high case fatality. Inadequate demand for health care is one of the major factors that might be responsible for the…
Background Reports
Global Governance and the Limits of Health Security
The Ebola outbreak in West Africa has exposed the limits of the current approach to the global governance of infectious diseases, which mixes public health and security interests. International efforts to strengthen ‘health security’ quickly faltered when confronted with weak…
Background Reports
Food Strategy of Batwa Pygmies in Lake Tumba Landscape, Democratic Republic of Congo
The Pygmies are knowledgeable of the virtues of the biodiversity of their environment, including the food value ofthese species. This study report on food strategy developed by the Batwa and is based on a rich biodiversity. The authors conducted a household…
