GIS Based Prediction of VectorBorne Disease Outbreaks

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GIS Based Prediction of Vector-Borne Disease
Outbreaks

• Mayuri Panditrao
• Prasanth Jeevan
• Tahir Akbar

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Disease Prevention Key Challenges

• Economic, social, and personal costs of diseases
• Prevention is highly cost effective compared to
  control/treatment
• Limited resources available for prevention,
  current focus is on treatment
• Identifying high risk areas will enable a focus
  on prevention

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Focusing Prevention Efforts GIS Based Disease
Prediction

• Geographic Information System A tool for
  visualizing and correlating information
• Understand correlations between environmental
  factors and disease incidence using GIS
• Use environmental data to identify high risk
  areas

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Our Research GIS Based Malaria Outbreak
Prediction

• Over the last year developed this idea and
  conducted a field study this summer to test the
  same.
• Collected malaria incidence and environmental
  data and analyzed it using GIS
• Study conducted for Koraput, Orissa State and
  Haridwar, Uttaranchal State
• Main Collaborators National Institute of Malaria
  Research (NIMR) and National Informatics Center
  (NIC).
• Berkeley reputation provided us with access to
  highest levels of government, industry, and
  non-profit organizations

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Key Findings and Challenges Identified

• Significant correlation between malaria incidence
  and environmental factors including rainfall,
  soil type, presence of water bodies, type of
  crops and presence of mines.
• More field studies required to develop a detailed
  model.
• Significant environmental data available but
  inter-agency communication and cooperation is the
  main challenge
• Indian IT companies have extended some support to
  the project.

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Next Steps

• Developing a detailed model
• Analyzing Issues in Scaling Up and Implementation
• Leveraging Indias IT strength Involving Indian
  IT companies
• Involving top level government officials to
  facilitate inter-agency collaboration
• Analyzing similar surveillance systems in
  industrialized countries
• Exploring applications for other vector borne
  diseases
• Advantages of being at UC Berkeley

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Resources Required For

• Field work support- Travel and Stay
• Recruiting project manager affiliated with UC
  Berkeley who could keep the effort on track
  keep all the parties talking to each other 
• Research Support

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Thanks! Questions ??