Following the detection of
a
n infectious disease outbreak,
rapid epidemiological assessment
is
critical
to guide
an
effective
public h
ealth
response. To understand the transmission
dynamics
and potential impact of an outbreak, several types of data are necessary. Here we build on
experience
gained in
the
West African
Ebola
epidemic and prior emerging infectious disease
outbreaks
to set out a checklist of data needed to
: 1
) quantify severity a
nd transmissibility
;
2
)
characterise heterogeneities in trans
mission and their determinants
;
and
3
) assess the
effectiveness of different interventions.
We
differentiate data needs into i
ndividual
-
level
data
(e.g. a detailed
list of reported cases), exposu
re
data
(e.g
.
identifying where /
how
cases may
have been infected
) and
population
level
data
(
e.g.
size
/demographics
of the population
(s)
affected and
when/where interventions were implemented). A remarkable amount of
individual
-
level and exposure
data was collected during the
West African
Ebola
epidemic
, which allowed
the assessment of
(1) and (2)
. However,
gaps in population
-
level data
(
particularly around which
interventions were applied
when
and where)
posed challenges to the assessment of
(3)
.
Here
we
highlight
recurrent data issues
,
give practical suggestions
for
address
ing
the
se issues and
discuss priorities for improvements in data collection in future outbreaks.