The DOI matches its Crossref record.
Infectious disease epidemics in refugee camps: a retrospective analysis of UNHCR data (2009-2017)
Open accessAbstract
# Background The majority of deaths during conflict and displacement are due to indirect causes, specifically infectious diseases. Although the control of communicable diseases and epidemics is one of the top priorities during humanitarian crises, little has been published about epidemics in refugee camps. In this article we analyze data from the health information system managed by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) capturing key public health information from camps. We provide insights into the epidemiological profile and overall burden of epidemics in these settings in order to inform decisions on priority interventions. # Methods We used data from UNHCR Health Information System and conducted a descriptive analysis of outbreaks between January 2009 to July 2017 in terms of frequency, geographical distribution, duration, size, case fatality, attack rate, and type of outbreaks. # Results A total of 364 outbreaks occurred in 21 countries, affecting 108 refugee camps. Seventy-five percent of epidemics were due to measles, cholera, meningitis; 70% of them occurred in three countries (Kenya, Chad, Thailand). Fifty percent of the camps recorded \<1 outbreak/year, while 90% of camps experienced one or two types of diseases. Half of the outbreaks lasted less than one month and had fewer than 10 cases. # Conclusions UNHCR and partners appear to be successfully containing infectious disease epidemics in refugee camps. Preventive measures addressing water, sanitation, hygiene and shelter conditions could nevertheless reduce the risk for water and air-borne diseases. Vaccination remains a key preventive strategy that needs to be enhanced and adapted to such mobile populations.
Overview
The claims and statistics of this paper haven’t been checked yet.
Run the check — free, no account needed. It reads the open-access text and checks the sources it cites.
Integrity signals
Registry
Cites
Statistics
Verification
Claims the paper makes
The claims and statistics of this paper haven’t been checked yet.
Run the check — free, no account needed. It reads the open-access text and checks the sources it cites.
Claims other papers make about this one
Each is checked against this paper’s own text: does it say what the citing paper says it does?
Large population size and density in camps put refugees at risk of epidemics including measles and cholera.
“Large population size and density of camps means refugees are also at risk for epidemics including measles and cholera (Altare et al., 2019;Harrell-Bond, 2000;Lam et al., 2015).”
From Sexual and gender-based violence against South Sudanese refugees in Uganda: a mixed-methods study (2025) · cites this paper as Altare et al., 2019
Self-check
Percentages, sums and reported differences re-computed from the paper’s own numbers.
The self-check needs the paper’s full text.
Citations
Cites
Still being checked.
Research works printed but not linked: 19
- Hammer, 2018, Risk factors and risk factor cascades for communicable disease outbreaks in complex humanitarian emergencies: a qualitative systematic review., BMJ Glob Health, 3, 10.1136/bmjgh-2017-000647 · DOI
- Toole, 1997, The Public Health Aspects of Complex Emergencies and Refugee Situations., Annu Rev Public Health, 18, 283, 10.1146/annurev.publhealth.18.1.283 · DOI
- Spiegel, 2010, Health-care needs of people affected by conflict: future trends and changing frameworks., Lancet, 375, 341, 10.1016/S0140-6736(09)61873-0 · DOI · Paper page
- Lam, 2015, Vaccine-preventable diseases in humanitarian emergencies among refugee and internally-displaced populations., Hum Vaccin Immunother, 11, 2627, 10.1080/21645515.2015.1096457 · DOI · Paper page
- Haskew, 2010, A standardized health information system for refugee settings: rationale, challenges and the way forward., Bull World Health Organ, 88, 792, 10.2471/BLT.09.074096 · DOI · Paper page
- Spina, 2017, A large outbreak of Hepatitis E virus genotype 1 infection in an urban setting in Chad likely linked to household level transmission factors, 2016-2017., PLoS One, 12, 10.1371/journal.pone.0188240 · DOI
- Guerrero-Latorre, 2011, Occurrence of water-borne enteric viruses in two settlements based in Eastern Chad: analysis of hepatitis E virus, hepatitis A virus and human adenovirus in water sources., J Water Health, 9, 515, 10.2166/wh.2011.126 · DOI
- Browne, 2015, Notes from the field: hepatitis E outbreak among refugees from South Sudan - Gambella, Ethiopia, April 2014-January 2015., MMWR Morb Mortal Wkly Rep, 64, 537
- Lessler, 2009, Incubation periods of acute respiratory viral infections: a systematic review., Lancet Infect Dis, 9, 291, 10.1016/S1473-3099(09)70069-6 · DOI
- Navarro-Colorado, 2014, Measles Outbreak Response Among Adolescent and Adult Somali Refugees Displaced by Famine in Kenya and Ethiopia, 2011., J Infect Dis, 210, 1863, 10.1093/infdis/jiu395 · DOI
- Kamugisha, 2003, An Outbreak of Measles in Tanzanian Refugee Camps., J Infect Dis, 187, S58, 10.1086/368057 · DOI
- Kouadio, 2010, Measles outbreaks in displaced populations: a review of transmission, morbidity and mortality associated factors., BMC Int Health Hum Rights, 10, 5, 10.1186/1472-698X-10-5 · DOI
- Deen, 2016, The scenario approach for countries considering the addition of oral cholera vaccination in cholera preparedness and control plans., Lancet Infect Dis, 16, 125, 10.1016/S1473-3099(15)00298-4 · DOI
- Hsiao, 2018, The health economics of cholera: A systematic review., Vaccine, 36, 4404, 10.1016/j.vaccine.2018.05.120 · DOI
- Mustapha, 2018, Vaccine prevention of meningococcal disease in Africa: Major advances, remaining challenges., Hum Vaccin Immunother, 14, 1107, 10.1080/21645515.2017.1412020 · DOI
- Sheikh, 2014, Combined use of inactivated and oral poliovirus vaccines in refugee camps and surrounding communities - Kenya, December 2013., MMWR Morb Mortal Wkly Rep, 63, 237
- Biran, 2012, Hygiene and sanitation practices amongst residents of three long-term refugee camps in Thailand, Ethiopia and Kenya., Trop Med Int Health, 17, 1133, 10.1111/j.1365-3156.2012.03045.x · DOI
- Phillips, 2015, Soap is not enough: handwashing practices and knowledge in refugee camps, Maban County, South Sudan 2015., Confl Health, 9, 39, 10.1186/s13031-015-0065-2 · DOI · Paper page
- Ziersch, 2018, A mixed methods systematic review of studies examining the relationship between housing and health for people from refugee and asylum seeking backgrounds., Soc Sci Med, 213, 199, 10.1016/j.socscimed.2018.07.045 · DOI
Cited by
Sorted by citations
Sexual and gender-based violence against South Sudanese refugees in Uganda: a mixed-methods study
Michaelsen, S. (2025) · Université de Montréal · doi:10.71781/1596
Metadata
- Authors
- Altare, C., Kahi, V., Ngwa, M., Goldsmith, A., Hering, H., Burton, A., & Spiegel, P.
- Affiliations
- Johns Hopkins University (US)
- Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (CH)
- Venue
- Journal of Global Health Reports
- Published
- 2019-10-22
- Volume
- 3
- ISSN
- 2399-1623 (ISSN-L)
- OpenAlex
- W2982191400
- Cited by
- 54
- References
- 0
- Citations by year
- 2026: 5 · 2025: 8 · 2024: 13 · 2023: 10 · 2022: 9 · 2021: 4 · 2020: 4 · 2019: 1
- FWCI
- 6.13
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- gold
- doi.org
- Licence
- cc-by
- Locations
- Journal of Global Health Reports (publishedVersion, cc-by)
- DOAJ (DOAJ: Directory of Open Access Journals) (submittedVersion)
- Funders
- Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation
- Johns Hopkins University
- Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health
- Topics
- Health Sciences › Health Professions › General Health Professions › Health and Conflict Studies
- Social Sciences › Law › Migration, Racism, and Human Rights
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Public Health, Environmental and Occupational Health › Travel-related health issues
- Keywords
- infectious disease outbreaks, refugee camps, humanitarian crisis, measles, cholera, meningitis, outbreak epidemiology, case fatality, attack rate, epidemic containment, water, sanitation and hygiene
About these checks
Registry, retraction, Cites and statistics results are computed, not judged, with one exception: a printed reference that no index lists is read once by a model before it counts as a citation error. Claims are extracted by a model and kept only when their quote appears verbatim in the text; each cited source is then checked, with a model’s help, for whether it says what the claim relies on. Those verdicts can be wrong — read the claim’s quote and the cited source before relying on one.
Statistics and arithmetic are recomputed, not judged.
Confidence bands are shown only for fields calibrated on our annotated test set. None is calibrated yet, so no band is shown.
What counts as a claim ›How we measure confidence ›How we check this ›
Are you an author, or do you see a problem with this page? Request a review
