{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,8,4]],"date-time":"2026-08-04T13:52:20Z","timestamp":1785851540339,"version":"3.56.0"},"reference-count":32,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"4","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2025,4,3]],"date-time":"2025-04-03T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1743638400000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"funder":[{"name":"International Union Against Tuberculosis and Lung Disease"}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["TropicalMed"],"abstract":"<jats:p>Tuberculosis (TB) is a global health challenge, particularly in the Central African Republic (CAR), which is classified as a high TB burden country. In the CAR, factors like poverty, limited healthcare access, high HIV prevalence, malnutrition, inadequate sanitation, low measles vaccination coverage, and conflict-driven crowded living conditions elevate TB risk. Improved AI-driven surveillance is hypothesized to address under-reporting and underdiagnosis. Therefore, we created an epidemiological digital representation of TB in Bangui by employing passive data collection, spatial analysis using a 100 \u00d7 100 m grid, and mapping TB treatment services. Our approach included estimating undiagnosed TB cases through the integration of TB incidence, notification rates, and diagnostic data. High-resolution predictions are achieved by subdividing the area into smaller units while considering influencing variables within the Bayesian model. By designating moderate and high-risk hotspots, the model highlighted the potential for precise resource allocation in TB control. The strength of our model lies in its adaptability to overcome challenges, although this may have been to the detriment of precision in some areas. Research is envisioned to evaluate the model\u2019s accuracy, and future research should consider exploring the integration of multidrug-resistant TB within the model.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/tropicalmed10040093","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2025,4,10]],"date-time":"2025-04-10T11:26:41Z","timestamp":1744284401000},"page":"93","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":6,"title":["Leveraging Artificial Intelligence to Predict Potential TB Hotspots at the Community Level in Bangui, Republic of Central Africa"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"10","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-8928-6732","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Kobto G.","family":"Koura","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"International Union Against Tuberculosis and Lung Disease, 75001 Paris, France"},{"name":"UMR261 MERIT, Universit\u00e9 Paris Cit\u00e9, IRD, 75006 Paris, France"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-3563-4359","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Sumbul","family":"Hashmi","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"EPCON, 2050 Antwerpen, Belgium"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Sonia","family":"Menon","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"International Union Against Tuberculosis and Lung Disease, 75001 Paris, France"},{"name":"Epitech Research, 1160 Auderghem, Belgium"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Herv\u00e9 G.","family":"Gando","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"International Union Against Tuberculosis and Lung Disease, 75001 Paris, France"},{"name":"National Tuberculosis Programme, Bangui P.O. Box 883, Central African Republic"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Aziz K.","family":"Yamodo","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"International Union Against Tuberculosis and Lung Disease, 75001 Paris, France"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Anne-Laure","family":"Budts","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"EPCON, 2050 Antwerpen, Belgium"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Vincent","family":"Meurrens","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"EPCON, 2050 Antwerpen, Belgium"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Saint-Cyr S. Koyato","family":"Lapelou","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"National Health Information System, Bangui P.O. Box 883, Central African Republic"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Olivia B.","family":"Mbitikon","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"International Union Against Tuberculosis and Lung Disease, 75001 Paris, France"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-9919-9210","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Matthys","family":"Potgieter","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"EPCON, 2050 Antwerpen, Belgium"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Caroline Van","family":"Cauwelaert","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"EPCON, 2050 Antwerpen, Belgium"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2025,4,3]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","unstructured":"Minist\u00e8re de la Sant\u00e9 et de la Population, R\u00e9publique Centrafricaine (2023). Plan Strat\u00e9gique National De Lutte Contre La Tuberculose 2024\u20132028."},{"key":"ref_2","unstructured":"World Bank (2023). Central African Republic Poverty Assessment\u2014A Road Map Towards Poverty Reduction in the Central African Republic (English), World Bank Group. Available online: http:\/\/documents.worldbank.org\/curated\/en\/099111323121515851\/P17739108d680e074088b608a00615bcba3."},{"key":"ref_3","unstructured":"M\u00e9decins Sans Fronti\u00e8res (2023, November 23). HIV Is in a State of Silent Crisis in Central African Republic. Available online: https:\/\/www.msf.org\/hiv-state-silent-crisis-car."},{"key":"ref_4","unstructured":"The Joint United Nations Programme on HIV\/AIDS (UNAIDS) (2023, November 23). Central African Republic 2022. Available online: https:\/\/www.unaids.org\/en\/regionscountries\/countries\/centralafricanrepublic."},{"key":"ref_5","unstructured":"Statista (2024, June 20). Share of Undernourished Population in Africa Between 2020 and 2022, by Country. Available online: https:\/\/www.statista.com\/statistics\/1305636\/prevalence-of-undernourishment-in-africa-by-country\/."},{"key":"ref_6","unstructured":"United Nations Children\u2019s Fund (2023, November 23). West and Central Africa: Water, Sanitation and Hygiene. Available online: https:\/\/www.unicef.org\/wca\/what-we-do\/wash."},{"key":"ref_7","unstructured":"M\u00e9decins Sans Fronti\u00e8res (2024, June 20). As Cycle of Violence in CAR Continues, People Struggle to Find Support. Available online: https:\/\/www.msf.org\/cycle-violence-car-continues-people-struggle-find-support."},{"key":"ref_8","unstructured":"Macrotrends (2024, June 20). Bangui, Central African Republic Metro Area Population 1950\u20132024. Available online: https:\/\/www.macrotrends.net\/global-metrics\/cities\/20410\/bangui\/population#google_vignette."},{"key":"ref_9","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"de Abreu, E.S.M., Di Lorenzo Oliveira, C., Teixeira Neto, R.G., and Camargos, P.A. (2016). Spatial distribution of tuberculosis from 2002 to 2012 in a midsize city in Brazil. BMC Public Health, 16.","DOI":"10.1186\/s12889-016-3575-y"},{"key":"ref_10","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Parums, D.V. (2023). Editorial: Infectious Disease Surveillance Using Artificial Intelligence (AI) and its Role in Epidemic and Pandemic Preparedness. Med. Sci. Monit., 29.","DOI":"10.12659\/MSM.941209"},{"key":"ref_11","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"2636","DOI":"10.1007\/s10439-023-03280-4","article-title":"The Rise of AI: How Artificial Intelligence is Revolutionizing Infectious Disease Control","volume":"51","author":"Siddig","year":"2023","journal-title":"Ann. Biomed. Eng."},{"key":"ref_12","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Teibo, T.K.A., Andrade, R.L.D.P., Rosa, R.J., Tavares, R.B.V., Berra, T.Z., and Arc\u00eancio, R.A. (2023). Geo-spatial high-risk clusters of Tuberculosis in the global general population: A systematic review. BMC Public Health, 23.","DOI":"10.1186\/s12889-023-16493-y"},{"key":"ref_13","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"262","DOI":"10.1007\/s11524-018-0319-6","article-title":"The Risk of Tuberculosis among Populations Living in Slum Settings: A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis","volume":"96","author":"Noykhovich","year":"2019","journal-title":"J. Urban Health"},{"key":"ref_14","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"63","DOI":"10.4103\/jgid.jgid_95_18","article-title":"Effect of Temperature and Altitude Difference on Tuberculosis Notification: A Systematic Review","volume":"11","author":"Gelaw","year":"2019","journal-title":"J. Glob. Infect. Dis."},{"key":"ref_15","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Harling, G., Lima Neto, A.S., Sousa, G.S., Machado, M.M.T., and Castro, M.C. (2017). Determinants of tuberculosis transmission and treatment abandonment in Fortaleza, Brazil. BMC Public Health, 17.","DOI":"10.1186\/s12889-017-4435-0"},{"key":"ref_16","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"3007","DOI":"10.1007\/s00431-023-04988-0","article-title":"Risk factors for the development of tuberculosis among the pediatric population: A systematic review and meta-analysis","volume":"182","author":"Siddalingaiah","year":"2023","journal-title":"Eur. J. Pediatr."},{"key":"ref_17","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Franco, J.V., Bongaerts, B., Metzendorf, M.I., Risso, A., Guo, Y., Silva, L.P., Boeckmann, M., Schlesinger, S., Damen, J.A., and Richter, B. (2024). Undernutrition as a risk factor for tuberculosis disease. Cochrane Database Syst. Rev., 6.","DOI":"10.1002\/14651858.CD015890.pub2"},{"key":"ref_18","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"351","DOI":"10.1128\/CMR.00042-10","article-title":"HIV and tuberculosis: A deadly human syndemic","volume":"24","author":"Kwan","year":"2011","journal-title":"Clin. Microbiol. Rev."},{"key":"ref_19","unstructured":"WorldPop Hub (2022, October 03). The Spatial Distribution of Population Density in 2020, Central African Republic 2020. Available online: https:\/\/hub.worldpop.org\/geodata\/summary?id=40591."},{"key":"ref_20","unstructured":"Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation (IHME) (2022, October 03). Child Growth Failure 2020. Available online: https:\/\/www.healthdata.org\/data-tools-practices\/interactive-visuals\/child-growth-failure."},{"key":"ref_21","unstructured":"Global Health Data Exchange (GHDx) (2022, October 03). Low-and Middle-Income Country Drinking Water and Sanitation Facilities Access Geospatial Estimates 2000\u20132017. Available online: https:\/\/ghdx.healthdata.org\/record\/ihme-data\/lmic-wash-access-geospatial-estimates-2000-2017."},{"key":"ref_22","unstructured":"Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation (IHME) (2022, October 03). Africa Diphtheria-Pertussis-Tetanus Vaccine Coverage Geospatial Estimates 2000\u20132016. Available online: https:\/\/ghdx.healthdata.org\/record\/ihme-data\/africa-diphtheria-pertussis-tetanus-vaccine-coverage-geospatial-estimates-2000-2016."},{"key":"ref_23","unstructured":"Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation (IHME) (2022, October 03). Low- and Middle-Income Country MCV1 Coverage Geospatial Estimates 2000\u20132019. Available online: https:\/\/ghdx.healthdata.org\/record\/ihme-data\/lmic-mcv1-coverage-geospatial-estimates-2000-2019."},{"key":"ref_24","unstructured":"Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation (IHME) (2022, October 03). Low- and Middle-Income Country Educational Attainment Geospatial Estimates 2000\u20132017. Available online: https:\/\/ghdx.healthdata.org\/record\/ihme-data\/lmic-education-geospatial-estimates-2000-2017."},{"key":"ref_25","unstructured":"Global Health Data Exchange (GHDx) (2022, October 03). Distance to OSM Major Roads 2016, Central African Republic 2018. Available online: https:\/\/hub.worldpop.org\/geodata\/summary?id=17342."},{"key":"ref_26","unstructured":"Global Health Data Exchange (GHDx) (2022, October 03). Low- and Middle-Income Country Neonatal, Infant, and Under-5 Mortality Geospatial Estimates 2000\u20132017. Available online: https:\/\/ghdx.healthdata.org\/record\/ihme-data\/lmic-under5-mortality-rate-geospatial-estimates-2000-2017."},{"key":"ref_27","unstructured":"Global Health Data Exchange (GHDx) (2022, October 03). Africa HIV Prevalence Geospatial Estimates 2000\u20132017. Available online: https:\/\/ghdx.healthdata.org\/record\/ihme-data\/africa-hiv-prevalence-geospatial-estimates-2000-2017."},{"key":"ref_28","unstructured":"The Humanitarian Data Exchange (HDx) (2024, June 20). Central African Republic Healthsites. Available online: https:\/\/data.humdata.org\/dataset\/central-african-republic-healthsites."},{"key":"ref_29","unstructured":"Koller, D., and Friedman, N. (2009). Probabilistic Graphical Models: Principles and Techniques, MIT press."},{"key":"ref_30","unstructured":"MacKay, D.J. (2003). Information Theory, Inference and Learning Algorithms, Cambridge University Press."},{"key":"ref_31","unstructured":"Jordan, M.I. (2003). An Introduction to Probabilistic Graphical Models, University of California. Available online: https:\/\/www.cse.iitk.ac.in\/users\/piyush\/courses\/pml_winter16\/expfam_glm.pdf."},{"key":"ref_32","unstructured":"Murphy, K.P. (2012). Machine Learning: A Probabilistic Perspective, MIT Press."}],"container-title":["Tropical Medicine and Infectious Disease"],"original-title":[],"language":"en","link":[{"URL":"https:\/\/www.mdpi.com\/2414-6366\/10\/4\/93\/pdf","content-type":"unspecified","content-version":"vor","intended-application":"similarity-checking"}],"deposited":{"date-parts":[[2025,10,9]],"date-time":"2025-10-09T17:09:51Z","timestamp":1760029791000},"score":1,"resource":{"primary":{"URL":"https:\/\/www.mdpi.com\/2414-6366\/10\/4\/93"}},"subtitle":[],"short-title":[],"issued":{"date-parts":[[2025,4,3]]},"references-count":32,"journal-issue":{"issue":"4","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2025,4]]}},"alternative-id":["tropicalmed10040093"],"URL":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/tropicalmed10040093","relation":{},"ISSN":["2414-6366"],"issn-type":[{"value":"2414-6366","type":"electronic"}],"subject":[],"published":{"date-parts":[[2025,4,3]]}}}