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2004 Health GIS Conference Proceedings Abstract
Comprehensive GIS Application for West Nile Virus Surveillance Author(s): Kevin Gibbs, City of Chicago; Abraham Emmanuel, City of Chicago ArcView and geographic cluster analysis could be used together for early detection of West Nile Virus (WNV) presence and targeted response. Learning from past experiences, in 2004 the Chicago Department of Public Health combined traditional mosquito abatement and spatial analysis to detect WNV activity. Traditional approaches involve testing mosquitoes and birds for WNV presence. Mosquito traps are located using GPS, and test results are mapped to show positive locations. The second approach involves encouraging citizens to report dead birds in their neighborhood through a non-emergency hot line. Spatial analysisperformed on dead bird calls using the Kulldorff Method identifies statistically significant locations. This data, combined with traditional test results, is mapped in ArcView to show WNV hot spots each day or week. The solution, which could be modified to detect other communicable diseases, involves an Oracle database with Access front end, a Java API for batch geocoding, and Visual Basic to dynamically generate maps. |
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