Human mobility during religious festivals and its implications on public health in Senegal: A mobile dataset analysis

Abstract

Mobile phone call details records (CDR) are particularly useful to study human mobility and support decisions related to public health, transportation and resource management. We used the 2013 mobile dataset released by the Orange mobile operator to model human mobility before, during and after one of the most attended religious festivals in Senegal called the Magal of Touba. We observed interesting structures in the human mobility patterns showing that this festival involves massive movements of population from different parts of Senegal. Our analysis also presents the main routes used by the pilgrims and their travels' times. These findings are worthwhile for numerous structures, including the ministries of Health, Transport, and Hydraulic, as well as other stakeholders planning religious festivals. They have important health implications ranging from awareness campaigns to resource management and service allocation before, during and after religious festivals in Senegal.