Use of Google Earth[TM] to Strengthen Public Health Capacity and Facilitate Management of Vector-Borne Diseases in Resource-Poor environments/Utilisation De Google Earth[TM] Pour Renforcer Les Capacites De la Sante Publique et Faciliter la Prise En Charge Des Maladies a Transmission Vectorielle Dans Les Environnements Pauvres En ressources/Uso De Google Earth[TM] Para Fortalecer la Capacidad De Salud Publica Y Facilitar

Introduction Vector-borne diseases inflict a terrible and unacceptable public health burden in developing countries. Indeed, seven of the 10 diseases targeted by the WHO Special Programme for Research and Training in Tropical Diseases because of their overwhelming public health and socioeconomic importance are transmitted by arthropods (African trypanosomiasis, Chagas disease, dengue, filariasis, leishmaniasis, malaria and onchocerchiasis). New, inexpensive solutions for management of these and other vector-borne diseases in resource-poor environments are desperately needed. Use of a geographic information system (GIS), which is a system for input, storage, manipulation, and output of geographic information, provides a powerful tool to combat vector-borne diseases. There is a plethora of GIS software packages available, with capacities for data processing, analysis and display ranging from low to high. Table 1 outlines characteristics, relative to Google Earth[TM] (Google, Mountain View, CA, United States of America), of four commonly used GIS software with data processing, analysis and display capacities ranging from low (HealthMapper, WHO, Geneva, Switzerland; Epi Info/ Epi Map, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, Georgia, USA) to moderate (SIGEpi, Pan American Health Organization, Washington, DC, USA), and high (ArcGIS, ESRI, Redlands, CA, USA). GIS-based approaches have, for example, been used to visualize or model spatial patterns of risk for exposure to malaria parasites in Africa (1-3) and dengue virus in different parts of the world. (4-7) This provides crucial information facilitating allocation of resources to the areas most in need of vector and disease control. GIS spatial backbones also have been incorporated into information systems or decision support systems for management of vector-borne diseases. Examples include systems for malaria surveillance and control in India, Mexico and southern Africa, (8-13) management of insecticide resistance in African malaria vectors, (14) and dengue surveillance and control in Brazil, Singapore and Thailand. (15-18) A dengue decision support system (DDSS) with a GIS spatial backbone is currently being developed at Colorado State University funded by the Innovative Vector Control Consortium. (19) Ina sister project, the Medical Research Council of South Africa is developing a Malaria Decision Support System. (19) Use of GIS technology to support management of vector-borne diseases does, however, require access to basic geographic data layers. In the case of dengue, which is predominantly an urban disease, (20) a GIS data layer showing the basic infrastructure of a city (streets, city blocks, location of health facilities, etc.) is crucial. Unfortunately, resource-poor environments in need of GIS-based solutions to more effectively manage vector-borne diseases can be faced with the reality that even the most basic GIS data are lacking and that investment in the infrastructure (high end computers, sophisticated GIS software, technical personnel) needed to develop such data is cost-prohibitive. We therefore explored the potential for using novel software providing free access to satellite imagery and including simple editing tools (e.g. Google Earth[TM] and Microsoft[R] Virtual Earth, Microsoft Corp., Redmond, WA, USA) to generate basic data layers for city infrastructure. Previous uses of Google Earth[TM] in public health include: display of pub]ic health information following Hurricane Katrina in New Orleans, USA; (21) visualization of public health records in Sweden; (22) interactive mapping of strategic health authorities in England; (23) display of information related to a global malaria atlas project; tracking of dengue cases in Singapore; and tracking of the global spread of avian influenza. (24) The goal of this study was to demonstrate that Google Earth[TM] can be used to strengthen overall public health capacity through development of information for city infrastructure and to display public health data in map formats. …