{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,9,16]],"date-time":"2026-09-16T15:24:12Z","timestamp":1789572252348,"version":"build-2803163510"},"update-to":[{"DOI":"10.1371\/journal.pntd.0010370","type":"new_version","label":"New version","source":"publisher","updated":{"date-parts":[[2022,5,2]],"date-time":"2022-05-02T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1651449600000}}],"reference-count":34,"publisher":"Public Library of Science (PLoS)","issue":"4","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2022,4,20]],"date-time":"2022-04-20T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1650412800000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"http:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"funder":[{"name":"International Development Research Centre of Canada","award":["108967-001"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["108967-001"]}]}],"content-domain":{"domain":["www.plosntds.org"],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["PLoS Negl Trop Dis"],"abstract":"<jats:p>Based on findings from focus groups and key informant interviews conducted at five sites in Liberia between 2018 and 2019, we explore some of the key factors that influenced people\u2019s motivation to travel during the 2014\u20132016 Ebola Virus Disease (EVD). We discuss how these factors led to certain mobility patterns and the implications these had for EVD response. The reasons for individual mobility during the epidemic were multiple and diverse. Some movements were related to relocation efforts as people attempted to extricate themselves from stigmatizing situations. Others were motivated by fear, convinced that other communities would be safer, particularly if extended family members resided there. Individuals also felt compelled to travel during the epidemic to meet other needs and obligations, such as attending burial rites. Some expressed concerns about obtaining food and earning a livelihood. Notably, these latter concerns served as an impetus to travel surreptitiously to evade quarantine directives aimed specifically at restricting mobility. Improvements in future infectious disease response could be made by incorporating contextually-based mobility factors, for example: the personalization of public health messaging through the recruitment of family members and trusted local leaders, to convey information that would help allay fear and combat stigmatization; activating existing traditional community surveillance systems in which entry into the community must first be approved by the community chief; and increased involvement of local leaders and community members in the provision of food and care to those quarantined so that the need to travel for these reasons is removed.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.1371\/journal.pntd.0010370","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2022,4,20]],"date-time":"2022-04-20T17:38:32Z","timestamp":1650476312000},"page":"e0010370","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1371\/journal.pntd.corrections_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":4,"title":["Contextualizing mobility during the Ebola epidemic in Liberia"],"prefix":"10.1371","volume":"16","author":[{"given":"Mosoka","family":"Fallah","sequence":"first","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-1062-7547","authenticated-orcid":true,"given":"Stephen","family":"Lavalah","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Tina","family":"Gbelia","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Myers","family":"Zondo","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Morris","family":"Kromah","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-9887-6219","authenticated-orcid":true,"given":"Lucy","family":"Tantum","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Gartee","family":"Nallo","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Joseph","family":"Boakai","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Kemoh","family":"Sheriff","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Laura","family":"Skrip","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-0961-4327","authenticated-orcid":true,"given":"S. Harris","family":"Ali","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"340","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2022,4,20]]},"reference":[{"key":"pntd.0010370.ref001","unstructured":"Campbell, L (2017), Learning from the Ebola Response in Cities: Population Movement, ALNAP working paper, ALNAP\/ Overseas Development Institute, available at https:\/\/www.alnap.org\/system\/files\/content\/resource\/files\/main\/alnap-urban-2017-ebolapopulation-movement.pdf"},{"issue":"44","key":"pntd.0010370.ref002","article-title":"Outbreaks of Ebola Virus Disease in Africa: The Beginnings of a Tragic Saga","volume":"20","author":"J. Chippaux","year":"2014","journal-title":"J Venom Anim Toxins Incl Trop Dis."},{"issue":"6","key":"pntd.0010370.ref003","first-page":"997","article-title":"Ebola Virus Disease in Southern Sudan: Hospital Dissemination and Intrafamilial Spread","volume":"61","author":"RC Baron","year":"1983","journal-title":"Bull World Health Organ"},{"issue":"8","key":"pntd.0010370.ref004","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"160294","DOI":"10.1098\/rsos.160294","article-title":"Spatial Spread of the West Africa Ebola Epidemic.","volume":"3","author":"AM Kramer","year":"2016","journal-title":"Royal Society Open Science"},{"key":"pntd.0010370.ref005","volume-title":"Factors that Contributed to Undetected Spread of the Ebola Virus and Impeded Rapid Containment","author":"World Health Organization","year":"2020"},{"issue":"1","key":"pntd.0010370.ref006","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"421","DOI":"10.1146\/annurev-anthro-102116-041616","article-title":"Epidemics (Especially Ebola).","volume":"46","author":"S Abramowitz","year":"2017","journal-title":"Annual Review of Anthropology"},{"key":"pntd.0010370.ref007","article-title":"Migrations in West Africa Seen as Challenge to Stopping Ebola","author":"R. Roos","year":"2014","journal-title":"CIDRAP"},{"issue":"6","key":"pntd.0010370.ref008","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"e0003652","DOI":"10.1371\/journal.pntd.0003652","article-title":"What Factors Might Have Led to the Emergence of Ebola in West Africa?","volume":"9","author":"KA Alexander","year":"2015","journal-title":"PLOS Neglected Tropical Diseases."},{"key":"pntd.0010370.ref009","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","DOI":"10.4324\/9780203797860","volume-title":"Humanitarian Crises and Migration: Causes, Consequences and Responses","author":"SF Martin","year":"2014"},{"issue":"1","key":"pntd.0010370.ref010","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","DOI":"10.5334\/gia.72","article-title":"Rites of Mobility and Epidemic Control: Ebola Virus Disease in the Mano River Basin.","volume":"3","author":"AK Onoma","year":"2016","journal-title":"Governance in Africa."},{"issue":"5","key":"pntd.0010370.ref011","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"367","DOI":"10.7326\/M15-1464","article-title":"Interrupting Ebola Transmission in Liberia Through Community-Based Initiatives","volume":"164","author":"MP Fallah","year":"2016","journal-title":"Annals of Internal Medicine"},{"key":"#cr-split#-pntd.0010370.ref012.1","unstructured":"Fallah M. How Africa's Porous Borders Make it Difficult to Contain Ebola [Internet]. 2016 June 15. The Conversation"},{"key":"#cr-split#-pntd.0010370.ref012.2","unstructured":"[cited 2020 Oct 23]. Available from: https:\/\/theconversation.com\/how-africas-porous-borders-make-it-difficult-to-contain-ebola-118719"},{"issue":"10144","key":"pntd.0010370.ref013","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"279","DOI":"10.1016\/S0140-6736(18)31435-1","article-title":"Preventing Rural to Urban Spread of Ebola: Lessons from Liberia","volume":"392","author":"MP Fallah","year":"2018","journal-title":"The Lancet"},{"issue":"12","key":"pntd.0010370.ref014","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"e0004260","DOI":"10.1371\/journal.pntd.0004260","article-title":"Quantifying Poverty as a Driver of Ebola Transmission.","volume":"9","author":"MP Fallah","year":"2015","journal-title":"PLoS Negl Trop Dis."},{"key":"pntd.0010370.ref015","article-title":"Understanding Why Ebola Deaths Occur at Home in Urban Montserrado County, Liberia: Report on the Findings from a Rapid Anthropological Assessment December 22\u201331","author":"DR Allen","year":"2015"},{"key":"pntd.0010370.ref016","first-page":"36","article-title":"Health crises and migration.","volume":"45","author":"M Edelstein","year":"2014","journal-title":"Forced Migration Review."},{"key":"pntd.0010370.ref017","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","DOI":"10.5040\/9781350219779","volume-title":"Ebola: How a People\u2019s Science Helped End an Epidemic.","author":"P. Richards","year":"2016"},{"issue":"10091","key":"pntd.0010370.ref018","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"219","DOI":"10.1016\/S0140-6736(17)31763-4","article-title":"Ebola: Transforming Fear into Appropriate Action","volume":"390","author":"DL Heymann","year":"2017","journal-title":"The Lancet"},{"key":"pntd.0010370.ref019","first-page":"151","volume-title":"The Social and Political Dimensions of the Ebola Response: Global Inequality, Climate Change, and Infectious Disease.","author":"H Ali","year":"2016"},{"issue":"2","key":"pntd.0010370.ref020","first-page":"80","article-title":"Tuberculosis, Homelessness, and the Politics of Mobility.","volume":"19","author":"SH Ali","year":"2010","journal-title":"Canadian Journal of Urban Research."},{"issue":"3","key":"pntd.0010370.ref021","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"43","DOI":"10.1353\/ces.2008.0002","article-title":"Stigmatized Ethnicity, Public Health, and Globalization.","volume":"40","author":"SH Ali","year":"2008","journal-title":"Canadian Ethnic Studies"},{"key":"pntd.0010370.ref022","article-title":"Megacity Slums are Incubators of Disease\u2013but Coronavirus Response Isn\u2019t Helping the Billion People who Live in Them","author":"R Muggah","year":"2020"},{"key":"pntd.0010370.ref023","volume-title":"Managing a Security Response to the Ebola Epidemic in Liberia.","author":"L. Winig","year":"2020"},{"key":"pntd.0010370.ref024","article-title":"As Ebola Grips Liberia\u2019s Capital, a Quarantine Sows Social Chaos","author":"N. Onishi","year":"2014","journal-title":"The New York Times"},{"issue":"2","key":"pntd.0010370.ref025","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"503","DOI":"10.1177\/0956247820922843","article-title":"Local Response in Health Emergencies: Key Considerations for Addressing the COVID-19 pandemic in Informal Urban Settlements.","volume":"32","author":"A. Wilkinson","year":"2020","journal-title":"Environment and Urbanization."},{"issue":"6","key":"pntd.0010370.ref026","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"3270","DOI":"10.3390\/ijerph18063270","article-title":"Contextualizing Risk Perception and Trust in the Community-Based Response to Ebola Virus Disease in Liberia.","volume":"18","author":"SH Ali","year":"2021","journal-title":"International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health"},{"issue":"3","key":"pntd.0010370.ref027","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"7","DOI":"10.1017\/asr.2016.87","article-title":"Understanding Social Resistance to the Ebola Response in the Forest Region of the Republic of Guinea: An Anthropological Perspective.","volume":"59","author":"J. Fairhead","year":"2016","journal-title":"African Studies Review."},{"issue":"454","key":"pntd.0010370.ref028","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"136","DOI":"10.1093\/afraf\/adu080","article-title":"Briefing: Ebola-myths, Realities, and Structural Violence.","volume":"114","author":"A Wilkinson","year":"2015","journal-title":"African Affairs"},{"issue":"3","key":"pntd.0010370.ref029","first-page":"e254","article-title":"The Ebola suspect\u2019s dilemma.","volume":"5","author":"E.T. Richardson","year":"2017","journal-title":"The Lancet: Global Health."},{"key":"pntd.0010370.ref030","volume-title":"Fevers, Feuds, and Diamonds: Ebola and the Ravages of History.","author":"P. Farmer","year":"2020"},{"issue":"4","key":"pntd.0010370.ref031","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"e0003706","DOI":"10.1371\/journal.pntd.0003706","article-title":"Community-Centered Responses to Ebola in Urban Liberia: The View from Below.","volume":"9","author":"SA Abramowitz","year":"2015","journal-title":"PLOS Neglected Tropical Diseases."},{"key":"pntd.0010370.ref032","first-page":"217","article-title":"Mobilizing the Social Infrastructure of Informal Settlements in Infectious Disease Response: The Case of Ebola Virus Disease in West Africa.","author":"SH Ali","year":"2022","journal-title":"Landscape and Urban Planning"},{"key":"pntd.0010370.ref033","volume-title":"Ebola Vaccine Hampered By Deep Distrust in Eastern Congo","author":"Associated Press","year":"2019"}],"updated-by":[{"DOI":"10.1371\/journal.pntd.0010370","type":"new_version","label":"New version","source":"publisher","updated":{"date-parts":[[2022,5,2]],"date-time":"2022-05-02T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1651449600000}}],"container-title":["PLOS Neglected Tropical Diseases"],"original-title":[],"language":"en","link":[{"URL":"https:\/\/dx.plos.org\/10.1371\/journal.pntd.0010370","content-type":"unspecified","content-version":"vor","intended-application":"similarity-checking"}],"deposited":{"date-parts":[[2022,5,2]],"date-time":"2022-05-02T17:38:10Z","timestamp":1651513090000},"score":1,"resource":{"primary":{"URL":"https:\/\/dx.plos.org\/10.1371\/journal.pntd.0010370"}},"subtitle":[],"editor":[{"given":"Masayuki","family":"Saijo","sequence":"first","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"editor"}]}],"short-title":[],"issued":{"date-parts":[[2022,4,20]]},"references-count":34,"journal-issue":{"issue":"4","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2022,4,20]]}},"URL":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1371\/journal.pntd.0010370","relation":{"new_version":[{"id-type":"doi","id":"10.1371\/journal.pntd.0010370","asserted-by":"object"}]},"ISSN":["1935-2735"],"issn-type":[{"value":"1935-2735","type":"electronic"}],"subject":[],"published":{"date-parts":[[2022,4,20]]}}}