Episia: An Open-Source Python Library for Epidemiological Surveillance, Modeling, and Biostatistics in Resource-Limited Settings

Abstract

Despite the evolution of epidemiological analysis and modeling tools, difficulties still remain, especially in developing countries, regarding the availability and use of these tools. Often expensive, requiring high technical expertise, demanding constant connectivity of several or sometimes even significant resources, these tools, although efficient, present a major gap with the operational realities of health districts. It is in this context that we introduce Episia, an open-source Python library designed and conceived to provide a framework to facilitate epidemiological analysis and modeling. It integrates a suite of compartmental epidemic models (SIR, SEIR, SEIRD) with a sensitivity analysis using the Monte Carlo method, a complete biostatistics suite validated against the OpenEpi reference standard, as well as a native DHIS2 client for automated data ingestion. Developed in Burkina Faso, it is optimized and aims not only to address these health challenges encountered in Africa but also remains a versatile tool for global health informatics.

Competing Interest Statement

The authors have declared no competing interest.

Funding Statement

This study did not receive any external funding. The development of Episia was conducted independently by the author through the Xcept-Health initiative.

Author Declarations

I confirm all relevant ethical guidelines have been followed, and any necessary IRB and/or ethics committee approvals have been obtained.

Yes

I confirm that all necessary patient/participant consent has been obtained and the appropriate institutional forms have been archived, and that any patient/participant/sample identifiers included were not known to anyone (e.g., hospital staff, patients or participants themselves) outside the research group so cannot be used to identify individuals.

Yes

I understand that all clinical trials and any other prospective interventional studies must be registered with an ICMJE-approved registry, such as ClinicalTrials.gov. I confirm that any such study reported in the manuscript has been registered and the trial registration ID is provided (note: if posting a prospective study registered retrospectively, please provide a statement in the trial ID field explaining why the study was not registered in advance).

Yes

I have followed all appropriate research reporting guidelines, such as any relevant EQUATOR Network research reporting checklist(s) and other pertinent material, if applicable.

Yes

Data Availability

All data produced in the present work are contained in the manuscript. The source code and validation notebooks are available at https://github.com/Xcept-Health/episia (DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.19429374).

https://github.com/Xcept-Health/episia

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