{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2025,9,13]],"date-time":"2025-09-13T15:43:08Z","timestamp":1757778188329,"version":"3.41.2"},"reference-count":33,"publisher":"Frontiers Media SA","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2023,7,19]],"date-time":"2023-07-19T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1689724800000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"content-domain":{"domain":["frontiersin.org"],"crossmark-restriction":true},"short-container-title":["Front. Digit. Health"],"abstract":"<jats:p>Digital contact tracing presents numerous advantages compared to manual contact tracing methods, especially in terms of enhanced speed and automation. Nevertheless, a lack of comprehensive evaluation regarding functionality, efficiency, benefits, and acceptance within communities remains. Here we primarily focus on the functionality of THEA-GS, an open-source digital contact tracing tool developed through consultation with stakeholders. Additionally, we provide insights from its implementation on a limited sample of haulage drivers in Uganda, serving as a representative case for a low- and middle-income country. THEA-GS comprises two primary components: (a) a smartphone application, and (b) a suite of server-programs responsible for data processing and analysis, including databases and a web-based interface featuring dashboards. In essence, the mobile application records the timestamped location of haulage drivers within the road network and identifies possible transmission hotspots by analyzing factors such as the duration of stops and the communities associated with them. The tool can be integrated with national infrastructure to compare drivers\u2019 diagnostic results and contact structure, thereby generating individual and community risk assessments relative to the road network. During the Omicron-variant wave of the COVID-19 pandemic, a total of 3,270 haulage drivers were enrolled between October 2021 and October 2022. Around 75% of these drivers utilized THEA-GS for approximately two months. Based on an analysis of 3,800 test results, which included 48 positive cases, 125 contacts, and 40 million time-stamped GPS points, THEA-GS shows a significant speed improvement, being approximately 90 times faster than MCT. For instance, the average time from sample collection to notifying a case and their contacts was approximately 70 and 80\u2005min, respectively. The adoption of this tool encountered challenges, mainly due to drivers\u2019 awareness of its purpose and benefits for public health. THEA-GS is a place-based digital contact tracing tool specifically designed to assist National Public Health Institutions in managing infectious disease outbreaks involving the haulage industry as a high-risk group. While its utility, acceptance, and accuracy have not been fully evaluated, our preliminary tests conducted in Uganda indicate the tool\u2019s functionality is robust, but social acceptance and adoption are heavily reliant on establishing trust among users.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3389\/fdgth.2023.1199635","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2023,7,19]],"date-time":"2023-07-19T10:42:22Z","timestamp":1689763342000},"update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3389\/crossmark-policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":4,"title":["An open-source digital contact tracing system tailored to haulage"],"prefix":"10.3389","volume":"5","author":[{"given":"Adrian","family":"Muwonge","sequence":"first","affiliation":[]},{"given":"Bryan A.","family":"Wee","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[]},{"given":"Ibrahimm","family":"Mugerwa","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[]},{"given":"Emma","family":"Nabunya","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[]},{"given":"Christine M.","family":"Mpyangu","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[]},{"given":"Barend M. de C.","family":"Bronsvoort","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[]},{"given":"Emmanuel Robert","family":"Ssebaggala","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[]},{"given":"Aggelos","family":"Kiayias","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[]},{"given":"Erisa","family":"Mwaka","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[]},{"given":"Moses","family":"Joloba","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[]}],"member":"1965","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2023,7,19]]},"reference":[{"volume-title":"Global strategy on digital health 2020\u20132025","year":"2021","key":"B1"},{"key":"B2","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"2","DOI":"10.3389\/fdgth.2021.660823","article-title":"Digital contact tracing against COVID-19 in Europe: current features and ongoing developments","volume":"3","author":"Blasimme","year":"2021","journal-title":"Front Digit Health"},{"key":"B3","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"2","DOI":"10.2196\/19473","article-title":"Digital health solutions to control the COVID-19 pandemic in countries with high disease prevalence: literature review","volume":"23","author":"Niakan Kalhori","year":"2021","journal-title":"J Med Internet Res"},{"volume-title":"Digital tools for COVID-19 contact tracing: Annex: contact tracing in the context of COVID-19, 2 June 2020","year":"2020","key":"B4"},{"key":"B5","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"384","DOI":"10.1038\/d41586-020-03518-4","article-title":"Why many countries failed at COVID contact-tracing \u2014 but some got it right","volume":"588","author":"Lewis","year":"2020","journal-title":"Nature"},{"key":"B6","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"e985","DOI":"10.1002\/hsr2.985","article-title":"Bio-secure bubble during the COVID-19 pandemic to host the Asian football confederation (AFC) champions league: a retrospective observational study","volume":"6","author":"Al Musleh","year":"2023","journal-title":"Health Sci Rep"},{"key":"B7","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"1","DOI":"10.1016\/j.ijid.2020.06.085","article-title":"Long-distance truck drivers and the increasing risk of COVID-19 spread in Uganda","volume":"98","author":"Bajunirwe","year":"2020","journal-title":"Int J Infect Dis"},{"key":"B8","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"ofab314","DOI":"10.1093\/ofid\/ofab314","article-title":"Anti-severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 immunoglobulin G antibody seroprevalence among truck drivers and assistants in Kenya","volume":"8","author":"Kagucia","year":"2021","journal-title":"Open Forum Infect Dis"},{"key":"B9","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"e058457","DOI":"10.1136\/bmjopen-2021-058457","article-title":"Developing digital contact tracing tailored to haulage in East Africa to support COVID-19 surveillance: a protocol","volume":"12","author":"Muwonge","year":"2022","journal-title":"BMJ Open"},{"year":"2023","key":"B10"},{"key":"B11","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"1","DOI":"10.1016\/j.ins.2017.12.031","article-title":"Map-matching for low-sampling-rate GPS trajectories","author":"Yuan","year":"2020","journal-title":"GIS Proc ACM Int Symp Adv Geogr Inf Syst"},{"year":"2023","key":"B12"},{"key":"B13","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1016\/j.procs.2014.09.066","article-title":"An algorithm for clustering animals by species based upon daily movement","volume":"36","author":"Curry","year":"2014","journal-title":"Procedia Comput Sci"},{"key":"B14","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"1283","DOI":"10.1007\/s11135-021-01176-w","article-title":"The application of K-means clustering for province clustering in Indonesia of the risk of the COVID-19 pandemic based on COVID-19 data","volume":"56","author":"Abdullah","year":"2022","journal-title":"Qual Quant"},{"key":"B15","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"1144","DOI":"10.1109\/TGRS.2010.2070509","article-title":"Strategy of data processing for GPS rover and reference receivers using different sampling rates","volume":"49","author":"Wang","year":"2011","journal-title":"IEEE Trans Geosci Remote Sens"},{"key":"B16","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"e425","DOI":"10.1016\/S2589-7500(20)30137-0","article-title":"Digital tools against COVID-19: taxonomy, ethical challenges, and navigation aid","volume":"2","author":"Gasser","year":"2020","journal-title":"Lancet Digit Health"},{"volume-title":"Selecting digital contact tracing and quarantine tools for COVID-19\u202f: Guiding principles and considerations for a stepwise approach","year":"2020","key":"B17"},{"key":"B18","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"e259","DOI":"10.1016\/S2468-2667(22)00001-9","article-title":"Effectiveness of contact tracing in the control of infectious diseases: a systematic review","volume":"7","author":"Hossain","year":"2022","journal-title":"Lancet Public Health"},{"key":"B19","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"1","DOI":"10.1016\/j.ssaho.2021.100212","article-title":"Exploring the drivers and barriers to uptake for digital contact tracing","volume":"4","author":"Chen","year":"2021","journal-title":"Soc Sci Humanit Open"},{"key":"B20","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"5918","DOI":"10.1038\/s41467-021-26144-8","article-title":"Nationwide rollout reveals efficacy of epidemic control through digital contact tracing","volume":"12","author":"Elmokashfi","year":"2021","journal-title":"Nat Commun"},{"key":"B21","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"e250","DOI":"10.1016\/S2468-2667(22)00010-X","article-title":"Effectiveness evaluation of digital contact tracing for COVID-19 in New South Wales, Australia","volume":"7","author":"Vogt","year":"2022","journal-title":"Lancet Public Health"},{"key":"B22","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"e607","DOI":"10.1016\/S2589-7500(20)30184-9","article-title":"Automated and partly automated contact tracing: a systematic review to inform the control of COVID-19","volume":"2","author":"Braithwaite","year":"2020","journal-title":"Lancet Digit Health"},{"key":"B23","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"102178","DOI":"10.1016\/j.ijinfomgt.2020.102178","article-title":"Contact tracing apps and values dilemmas: a privacy paradox in a neo-liberal world","volume":"55","author":"Rowe","year":"2020","journal-title":"Int J Inf Manag"},{"year":"","key":"B24"},{"year":"","author":"Agency","key":"B25"},{"year":"","key":"B26"},{"key":"B27","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"e342","DOI":"10.1016\/S2589-7500(20)30133-3","article-title":"The need for privacy with public digital contact tracing during the COVID-19 pandemic","volume":"2","author":"Bengio","year":"2020","journal-title":"Lancet Digit Health"},{"key":"B28","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"2","DOI":"10.2196\/29085","article-title":"Public adoption of and trust in the nhs COVID-19 contact tracing app in the United Kingdom: quantitative online survey study","volume":"23","author":"Dowthwaite","year":"2021","journal-title":"J Med Internet Res"},{"key":"B29","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"e001604","DOI":"10.1136\/bmjgh-2019-001604","article-title":"Effect of airtime incentives on response and cooperation rates in non-communicable disease interactive voice response surveys: randomised controlled trials in Bangladesh and Uganda","volume":"4","author":"Gibson","year":"2019","journal-title":"BMJ Glob Health"},{"key":"B30","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"26","DOI":"10.21037\/mhealth.2019.07.05","article-title":"Consent for mobile phone surveys of non-communicable disease risk factors in low-resource settings: an exploratory qualitative study in Uganda","volume":"5","author":"Mwaka","year":"2019","journal-title":"mHealth"},{"key":"B31","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"416","DOI":"10.3389\/fpubh.2020.00416","article-title":"Misconceptions on COVID-19 risk among Ugandan men: results from a rapid exploratory survey, April 2020","volume":"8","author":"Kasozi","year":"2020","journal-title":"Front Public Health"},{"key":"B32","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"1","DOI":"10.3389\/fvets.2019.00501","article-title":"Modeling the transmission of foot and mouth disease to inform transportation of infected carcasses to a disposal site during an outbreak event","volume":"6","author":"Walz","year":"2020","journal-title":"Front Vet Sci"},{"key":"B33","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"459","DOI":"10.1111\/avj.13106","article-title":"Is transportation a risk factor for African swine fever transmission in Australia: a review","volume":"99","author":"Neumann","year":"2021","journal-title":"Aust Vet J"}],"container-title":["Frontiers in Digital Health"],"original-title":[],"link":[{"URL":"https:\/\/www.frontiersin.org\/articles\/10.3389\/fdgth.2023.1199635\/full","content-type":"unspecified","content-version":"vor","intended-application":"similarity-checking"}],"deposited":{"date-parts":[[2023,7,19]],"date-time":"2023-07-19T10:42:28Z","timestamp":1689763348000},"score":1,"resource":{"primary":{"URL":"https:\/\/www.frontiersin.org\/articles\/10.3389\/fdgth.2023.1199635\/full"}},"subtitle":[],"short-title":[],"issued":{"date-parts":[[2023,7,19]]},"references-count":33,"alternative-id":["10.3389\/fdgth.2023.1199635"],"URL":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3389\/fdgth.2023.1199635","relation":{},"ISSN":["2673-253X"],"issn-type":[{"type":"electronic","value":"2673-253X"}],"subject":[],"published":{"date-parts":[[2023,7,19]]},"article-number":"1199635"}}