Tracking the polio virus down the Congo River: a case study on the use of Google Earth™ in public health planning and mapping

Abstract

Background: The use of GIS in public health is growing, a consequence of a rapidly evolving technology and increasing accessibility to a wider audience. Google Earth™ (GE) is becoming an important mapping infrastructure for public health. However, generating traditional public health maps for GE is still beyond the reach of most public health professionals. In this paper, we explain, through the example of polio eradication activities in the Democratic Republic of Congo, how we used GE Earth as a planning tool and we share the methods used to generate public health maps.

Virtual globes and geospatial health: the potential of new tools in the management and control of vector-borne diseases

“…schistosomiasis and other neglected tropical diseases, but also malaria. Another limitation with acquiring high resolution imagery through Google Earth™ is that satellite image data are intended for optimized ground cover presentation, which makes it weak for analysis purposes as the time of image acquisition cannot be chosen (Monkkonen, 2008;Kamadjeu, 2009).…”

“…Not only the field of application, but also the tasks show a wide range, from the visualization of earthquakes and tsunamis (Yuan et al, 2008), oasis detection in deserts (Luedeling and Buerkert, 2008), estimating the size of irrigated agriculture (Thenkabail et al, 2007), as an educational tool (Doering and Veletsianos, 2007;Patterson, 2007) for global biodiversity assessments (Guralnick et al, 2007), community mapping (Lefer et al, 2008) and to tracking polio virus down the Congo River (Kamadjeu, 2009). The field where Google Earth™ has seen the most extensive use thus far is in the environmental sciences.…”

“…The field where Google Earth™ has seen the most extensive use thus far is in the environmental sciences. However, also within the health sciences and public health-related projects in particular, the use of Google Earth™ is growing, as witnessed by the increasing number of articles published in the peer-reviewed literature (Sundvall et al, 2007;Boulos et al, 2008;East et al, 2008;Freifeld et al, 2008;Gao et al, 2008;Lefer et al, 2008;Lozano-Fuentes et al, 2008;Yi et al, 2008;Kamadjeu, 2009). One of the earliest references made to the potential of virtual globe technology for disease mapping was highlighted by Malone in 2005(Malone, 2005.…”

Emerging Information Technologies to Provide Improved Decision Support for Surveillance, Prevention, and Control of Vector-Borne Diseases

“…Malaria caused an estimated 247 million cases and nearly a million deaths in 2008, and up to 50 million dengue infections and 500,000 cases of severe dengue hemorrhagic fever are estimated to occur each year (World Health Organization, 2008, 2009. Furthermore, new vector-borne diseases have emerged and become established in developed parts of the world in recent decades.…”

Cidades inteligentes baseadas em tecnologias de informação e comunicação: experiências em regiões urbanas sob a ótica da sustentabilidade

“…Ainda no país, as TICs também foram aplicadas -de maneira considerada limitada -na rede de laboratórios farmacêuticos públicos para a integração da cadeia de suprimentos, de produção e de distribuição de medicamentos (Sheikhali et al, 2016;Souza et al, 2015;Trindade, 2011 (Haskew et al, 2015;Kamadjeu, 2009;Vermeulen et al, 2009 (Krishnamoorthy & Rajeev, 1996;Tee & Bowman, 1991).…”