Role of GIS in Tracking and Controlling Spread of Disease

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Role of GIS in Tracking and Controlling Spread of
Disease

• For
• Dr. Baqer Al-Ramadan
• By
• Syed Imran Quadri
• CRP 514 Introduction to GIS

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• Introduction
• Problem Statement
• Objectives
• Methodology of Study
• Literature Review
• Case Study
• Prevention And Control
• Conclusions
• Recommendations

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Introduction

• An infection process is the interaction of a
  pathogenic microorganism with a macro organism
  under certain environmental and social
  conditions.
• Microorganisms causing infectious diseases
  parasites on host and persist due to continuous
  reproduction of new generation which change their
  properties in accordance with evolution of the
  environment conditions.

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Introduction (Cont)

• GIS has emerged as an important component of many
  projects in public health and epidemiology
• Geographic information systems (GIS) provide
  ideal platforms for the convergence of
  disease-specific information and their analyses
  in relation to population settlements,
  surrounding social and health services and the
  natural environment

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Introduction (Cont)

• GIS is being used in,
• surveillance and monitoring of vector-borne
  diseases, water-borne diseases, in environmental
  health
• analysis of disease policy and planning
• health situation in an area, generation and
  analysis of research hypotheses

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Problem Statement

• Understanding the determinants of a disease, and
  its spread from person to person and community to
  community, has become increasingly global
• GIS plays a vital tool in strengthening the whole
  process of epidemiological surveillance
  information management and analysis

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Objectives

• The main objective is to discuss the role of GIS
  in tracking and controlling the spread of
  diseases which are of epidemic nature and the
  feasible applications of GIS in identifying their
  catchment area.
• This paper discusses the case studies for various
  diseases with a special treatment to West Nile
  virus using GIS.

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Methodology of Study

• Studying the spread of disease and applying
  techniques in tracking and controlling it.
• Literature related to the problem
• Presenting Case studies

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Literature Review

• There are various categories under which the
  infectious diseases fall.
• These include vector borne diseases, airborne
  diseases, waterborne diseases, food borne
  diseases, and plant and fish diseases.
• High-risk areas can be identified using GIS and
  remote sensing technologies that would otherwise
  be difficult to detect using traditional methods

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Literature Review (Cont)

• Control and education programs can be directed
  toward these areas with more confidence and
  effectiveness
• GIS provides excellent means for visualizing and
  analyzing epidemiological data, revealing trends,
  dependencies and inter-relationships.
• GIS serves as a common platform for convergence
  of multi-disease surveillance activities

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Literature Review (Cont)

• GIS helps us out in many ways,
• Find out geographical distribution and variation
  of diseases
• Map populations at risk and stratify risk factors
  
• Forecast epidemics

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Literature Review (Cont)

• Monitor diseases and interventions over time
• Route health workers, equipments and supplies to
  service locations
• Locate the nearest health facility

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Literature Review (Cont)

• West Nile virus (WNV) is a potentially serious
  illness. Experts believe WNV is established as a
  seasonal epidemic
• Generally, WNV is spread by the bite of an
  infected mosquito. Mosquitoes are WNV carriers
  that become infected when they feed on infected
  birds

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Case Study Fight The Bite With GIS

• Implementation of GIS in the VSC program has
  helped communicate and respond to the increased
  activity associated with the threat and imminent
  arrival of West Nile Virus
• GIS has helped the VSC program realize management
  goals such as improved communication, reduction
  in resources and costs, and enhanced staff
  technical skills

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Case Study (Cont)

• VSC continually focuses on mosquito control, rat
  control, and surveillance activities for
  vector-borne diseases such as plague and
  hantavirus.
• Most recently, West Nile Virus (WNV) has been
  transmitted to humans from mosquitoes at a rapid
  rate

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Case Study (Cont)

• The first GIS project implemented in VSC was to
  map the known mosquito breeding sources
• These sources are referred to as sites by the VSC
  staff and are recorded in an Access database
  using a unique site number.
• Additional information such as amount of
  treatment material applied and the site visit
  date is associated with each site number

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Case Study (Cont)

• The accuracy of the initial source GIS layer was
  lacking the accuracy needed to perform a
  point-to-polygon geoprocessing technique to
  assign property ownership to each source
• In order to map the sources, VSC staff received
  training on a DEH GIS intranet based mapping
  application developed in ESRI Map Objects

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Case Study (Cont)

• DEH GIS mapping application interface the
  mosquito breeding sources (yellow triangles), and
  the results of a basic report (or query) on a
  selected site.

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Case Study (Cont)

• VSC staff also received training on Global
  Positioning Systems (GPS) technology.
• Integration of GPS with GIS allows the field
  technician to capture the site location in the
  field.
• GPS was used in identifying some sites and in
  refining the locations of other sites.

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Case Study (Cont)

• GIS techniques were used to determine exact
  location, area, and amount of larvicide's for
  treatment
• This allowed for better contract specifications
  and communication among VSC staff, contractors
  other agencies

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Case Study (Cont)

• map illustrates the aerial mosquito larvicide's
  applications

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Case Study (Cont)
The map resides on the website and informs the
public of WNV test results in San Diego County.
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Case Study (Cont)

• During pilot testing, a GIS buffer technique was
  used to identify and notify schools near the area
  of aerial application
• Overall, the use of GIS technology has improved
  the VSC program by providing problem-solving and
  decision-making tools

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Prevention and Control

• Surveillance
• Larval Mosquito Surveillance
• Adult Mosquito Surveillance
• Virus Surveillance
• Source Reduction
• Sanitation
• Water Management
• Chemical Control
• Larviciding
• Adulticiding
• Biological Control

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Conclusions

• GIS is an effective tool to monitor and control
  the various infectious diseases.
• No research covered a wide number of contagious
  diseases with a common methodology with respect
  to GIS application
• GIS response has proven to be an invaluable tool
  and has been integrated as a major component of
  the West Nile virus Surveillance and Treatment
  Program

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Conclusions

• Tracking Analyst makes it possible to explore,
  visualize, and analyze West Nile Virus data
  relative to time, and has been very useful in
  determining the scope of an area that must be
  monitored.
• A major benefit of the ArcView and Tracking
  Analyst has been in time saving against doing
  manual process
• GIS aids in faster and better health mapping and
  analysis than the conventional methods.

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Conclusions

• It gives health professionals quick and easy
  access to large volumes of data
• It provides a variety of dynamic analysis tools
  and display techniques for monitoring and
  management of epidemics
• By tracking the sources of diseases and the
  movement of contagions, the populations at risk
  were identified

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Recommendations

• Health administrators, professionals and
  researchers need training and user support in GIS
  technology, data and epidemiological methods in
  order to use GIS properly and effectively
• Mostly mosquitoes are active at dusk and dawn.
  Staying indoors during these times or using
  insect repellent is advisable

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Recommendations

• Developing vaccines and treatments as no specific
  vaccines or treatments exist for West Nile virus

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