Ngalamulume Willy, Kayembe Harry César, Mutombo Guy, Mossoko Mathias, Mutombo Annie, Bompangue Didier
Master d'Écologie des Maladies Infectieuses, Aléas Naturels et Gestion des Risques, Faculté de Médecine, Université de Kinshasa, Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of the Congo.
Institut One Health pour l'Afrique, Faculté de Médecine, Université de Kinshasa, Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of the Congo.
Confl Health. 2025 Mar 4;19(1):12. doi: 10.1186/s13031-025-00650-8.
Contact tracing remains a pillar public health strategy for containing Ebola virus disease (EVD). During the 2018-2020 EVD outbreak in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), contact tracing was implemented on an unprecedented scale. Here, we assessed performance of contact tracing implemented in affected health zones, and identified risk factors associated with incomplete follow-up.
We performed a retrospective descriptive data analysis of 129,749 contacts in the contact line lists of North Kivu province between August 1, 2018 to June 25, 2020. Coverage, completeness, timeliness, and duration of contact tracing were determined to assess the performance of contact tracing implemented by field actors. Bivariate and multivariate logistic regression models were used to identify factors associated with incomplete contact tracing.
Overall, more than 90% of all contacts initially identified and listed were monitored. However, 9.1% of contacts who had monitoring initiated had completed the 21 days follow-up. The median days between identification and the start of follow-up and duration contact follow-up were 3 (1-6) and 17 (12-19), respectively. The risk of incomplete follow-up was higher among contacts from urban and conflict-affected health zones.
Our findings indicate the necessity of prioritizing contact tracing in urban areas. This can be achieved by engaging locally trusted stakeholders to build community confidence. Furthermore, integrating digital contact tracing solutions may enhance the efficacy of traditional manual contact tracing.
接触者追踪仍然是控制埃博拉病毒病（EVD）的一项主要公共卫生策略。在2018 - 2020年刚果民主共和国（DRC）的埃博拉病毒病疫情期间，接触者追踪以前所未有的规模实施。在此，我们评估了在受影响卫生区实施的接触者追踪的绩效，并确定了与随访不完整相关的风险因素。
我们对2018年8月1日至2020年6月25日北基伍省接触者名单中的129,749名接触者进行了回顾性描述性数据分析。确定接触者追踪的覆盖率、完整性、及时性和持续时间，以评估现场工作人员实施的接触者追踪的绩效。使用二元和多元逻辑回归模型来确定与接触者追踪不完整相关的因素。
总体而言，最初确定并列出的所有接触者中，超过90%受到了监测。然而，开始监测的接触者中，只有9.1%完成了21天的随访。从识别到开始随访的中位天数以及接触者随访的持续时间分别为3（1 - 6）天和17（12 - 19）天。来自城市和受冲突影响卫生区的接触者随访不完整风险更高。
我们的研究结果表明有必要在城市地区优先进行接触者追踪。这可以通过让当地受信任的利益相关者参与来建立社区信心来实现。此外，整合数字接触者追踪解决方案可能会提高传统人工接触者追踪的效果。
