{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,8,18]],"date-time":"2026-08-18T02:40:31Z","timestamp":1787020831252,"version":"build-2736575974"},"reference-count":16,"publisher":"Springer Science and Business Media LLC","issue":"1","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2021,4,15]],"date-time":"2021-04-15T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1618444800000},"content-version":"tdm","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"http:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"},{"start":{"date-parts":[[2021,4,15]],"date-time":"2021-04-15T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1618444800000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"http:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"content-domain":{"domain":["link.springer.com"],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["Confl Health"],"published-print":{"date-parts":[[2021,12]]},"abstract":"<jats:title>Abstract<\/jats:title>\n                  <jats:sec>\n                    <jats:title>Background<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>The world\u2019s second largest Ebola outbreak occurred in the Democratic Republic of Congo from 2018 to 2020. At the time, risk of cross-border spread into South Sudan was very high. Thus, the South Sudan Ministry of Health scaled up Ebola preparedness activities in August 2018, including implementation of a 24-h, toll-free Ebola virus disease (EVD) hotline. The primary purpose was the hotline was to receive EVD alerts and the secondary goal was to provide evidence-based EVD messages to the public.<\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>\n                  <jats:sec>\n                    <jats:title>Methods<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>To assess whether the hotline augmented Ebola preparedness activities in a protracted humanitarian emergency context, we reviewed 22\u2009weeks of call logs from January to June 2019. Counts and percentages were calculated for all available data.<\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>\n                  <jats:sec>\n                    <jats:title>Results<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>The hotline received 2114 calls during the analysis period, and an additional 1835 missed calls were documented. Callers used the hotline throughout 24-h of the day and were most often men and individuals living in Jubek state, where the national capital is located. The leading reasons for calling were to learn more about EVD (68%) or to report clinical signs or symptoms (16%). Common EVD-related questions included EVD signs and symptoms, transmission, and prevention. Only one call was documented as an EVD alert, and there was no documentation of reported symptoms or whether the person met the EVD case definition.<\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>\n                  <jats:sec>\n                    <jats:title>Conclusions<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>Basic surveillance information was not collected from callers. To trigger effective outbreak investigation from hotline calls, the hotline should capture who is reporting and from where, symptoms and travel history, and whether this information should be further investigated. Electronic data capture will enhance data quality and availability of information for review. Additionally, the magnitude of missed calls presents a major challenge. When calls are answered, there is potential to provide health communication, so risk communication needs should be considered. However, prior to hotline implementation, governments should critically assess whether their hotline would yield actionable data and if other data sources for surveillance or community concerns are available.<\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>","DOI":"10.1186\/s13031-021-00360-x","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2021,4,15]],"date-time":"2021-04-15T06:18:21Z","timestamp":1618467501000},"update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1007\/springer_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":8,"title":["Lessons learned from implementation of a national hotline for Ebola virus disease emergency preparedness in South Sudan"],"prefix":"10.1186","volume":"15","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-2926-4010","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Velma K.","family":"Lopez","sequence":"first","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Sharmila","family":"Shetty","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Angelo Thon","family":"Kouch","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Matthew Tut","family":"Khol","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Richard","family":"Lako","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Alexandre","family":"Bili","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Anyang David","family":"Ayuen","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Agnes","family":"Jukudu","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Ajak Ater","family":"Kug","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Atem David","family":"Mayen","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Emmanuel","family":"Nyawel","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Kibebu","family":"Berta","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Olushayo","family":"Olu","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Kevin","family":"Clarke","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Sudhir","family":"Bunga","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"297","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2021,4,15]]},"reference":[{"key":"360_CR1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"813","DOI":"10.1016\/S1473-3099(19)30360-3","volume":"19","author":"WHO","year":"2019","unstructured":"WHO. Ebola in the Democratic Republic of the Congo: Health Emergency Update. Lancet Infect Dis. 2019;19:813\u20134 [cited 2019 Aug 28]. Available from: https:\/\/www.who.int\/emergencies\/diseases\/ebola\/drc-2019.","journal-title":"Lancet Infect Dis"},{"key":"360_CR2","volume-title":"History of Ebola Virus Disease: 2014-2016 Ebola Outbreak in West Africa","author":"CDC","year":"2019","unstructured":"CDC. History of Ebola Virus Disease: 2014-2016 Ebola Outbreak in West Africa. 2019 [cited 2019 Aug 28]. Available from: https:\/\/www.cdc.gov\/vhf\/ebola\/history\/2014-2016-outbreak\/index.html"},{"issue":"9","key":"360_CR3","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"227","DOI":"10.15585\/mmwr.mm6509a2","volume":"65","author":"CT Lee","year":"2016","unstructured":"Lee CT, Bulterys M, Martel LD, Dahl BA. Evaluation of a national call center and a local alerts system for detection of new cases of ebola virus disease \u2014 Guinea, 2014\u20132015. Morb Mortal Wkly Rep. 2016;65(9):227\u201330.","journal-title":"Morb Mortal Wkly Rep"},{"issue":"12","key":"360_CR4","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"2265","DOI":"10.3201\/eid2112.150756","volume":"21","author":"E Gignoux","year":"2015","unstructured":"Gignoux E, Idowu R, Bawo L, Hurum L, Sprecher A, Bastard M, et al. Use of capture\u2013recapture to estimate underreporting of Ebola virus disease, Montserrado County, Liberia. Emerg Infect Dis. 2015;21(12):2265\u20137.","journal-title":"Emerg Infect Dis"},{"issue":"3","key":"360_CR5","first-page":"1","volume":"2","author":"C Alpren","year":"2017","unstructured":"Alpren C, Jalloh MF, Kaiser R, Diop M, Kargbo SAS, Castle E, et al. The 117 call alert system in Sierra Leone: from rapid Ebola notification to routine death reporting. 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N Engl J Med. 2019;381(4):373\u201383.","journal-title":"N Engl J Med"},{"key":"360_CR15","volume-title":"Ebola virus disease in the Democratic Republic of the Congo \u2013 Operational readiness and preparedness in neighbouring countries","author":"World Health Organization D outbreak news","year":"2018","unstructured":"World Health Organization D outbreak news. Ebola virus disease in the Democratic Republic of the Congo \u2013 Operational readiness and preparedness in neighbouring countries. 2018. [cited 2020 Aug 12]. Available from: https:\/\/www.who.int\/csr\/don\/14-august-2018-ebola-drc\/en\/"},{"issue":"4","key":"360_CR16","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"289","DOI":"10.1056\/NEJMp1103591","volume":"365","author":"RM Merchant","year":"2011","unstructured":"Merchant RM, Elmer S, Lurie N. Integrating social media into emergency-preparedness efforts. N Engl J Med. 2011;365(4):289\u201391.","journal-title":"N Engl J Med"}],"container-title":["Conflict and Health"],"original-title":[],"language":"en","link":[{"URL":"https:\/\/link.springer.com\/content\/pdf\/10.1186\/s13031-021-00360-x.pdf","content-type":"application\/pdf","content-version":"vor","intended-application":"text-mining"},{"URL":"https:\/\/link.springer.com\/article\/10.1186\/s13031-021-00360-x\/fulltext.html","content-type":"text\/html","content-version":"vor","intended-application":"text-mining"},{"URL":"https:\/\/link.springer.com\/content\/pdf\/10.1186\/s13031-021-00360-x.pdf","content-type":"application\/pdf","content-version":"vor","intended-application":"similarity-checking"}],"deposited":{"date-parts":[[2021,4,15]],"date-time":"2021-04-15T06:31:35Z","timestamp":1618468295000},"score":1,"resource":{"primary":{"URL":"https:\/\/conflictandhealth.biomedcentral.com\/articles\/10.1186\/s13031-021-00360-x"}},"subtitle":[],"short-title":[],"issued":{"date-parts":[[2021,4,15]]},"references-count":16,"journal-issue":{"issue":"1","published-print":{"date-parts":[[2021,12]]}},"alternative-id":["360"],"URL":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1186\/s13031-021-00360-x","relation":{},"ISSN":["1752-1505"],"issn-type":[{"value":"1752-1505","type":"electronic"}],"subject":[],"published":{"date-parts":[[2021,4,15]]},"assertion":[{"value":"24 June 2020","order":1,"name":"received","label":"Received","group":{"name":"ArticleHistory","label":"Article History"}},{"value":"31 March 2021","order":2,"name":"accepted","label":"Accepted","group":{"name":"ArticleHistory","label":"Article History"}},{"value":"15 April 2021","order":3,"name":"first_online","label":"First Online","group":{"name":"ArticleHistory","label":"Article History"}},{"order":1,"name":"Ethics","group":{"name":"EthicsHeading","label":"Declarations"}},{"value":"This analysis is a review of routinely collected data. Calling into the hotline is completely voluntary and personal identifiers are not recorded in the hotline database. The Human Research Protection Office within the Center for Global Health at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reviewed the study and determined it to be non-research.","order":2,"name":"Ethics","group":{"name":"EthicsHeading","label":"Ethics approval and consent to participate"}},{"value":"Not applicable.","order":3,"name":"Ethics","group":{"name":"EthicsHeading","label":"Consent for publication"}},{"value":"The authors declare that they have no competing interests.","order":4,"name":"Ethics","group":{"name":"EthicsHeading","label":"Competing interests"}}],"article-number":"27"}}