Remote satellite imaging may help predict infectious disease outbreaks
Washington, Sept 3 : Researchers in the US have used a new way to predict outbreaks
of cholera - a water-borne infectious disease.
According to the researchers, this new technique could potentially control outbreaks of
other important infectious diseases.
The bacterium that causes cholera, Vibrio cholerae, has a known association with a
crustacean (called a copepod), which lives on zooplankton, a type of plankton.
Cholera outbreaks have been associated with environmental factors, including sea
surface temperature, ocean height, and biomass.
Professor Rita R. Colwell and her team at the University of Maryland, College Park,
have used remote satellite imaging to track this climatologically important information
and the data collected now can be used to predict outbreaks of cholera before they
occur.
Cholera epidemics have been episodic, so the ability to predict them could be one
further step towards controlling this serious, water-borne disease by providing rapid
response public health measures.
The climate factors shown to be associated with cholera also play a role in many other
infectious diseases.
So this development offers a useful model for understanding human health effects
related to climate change.
"We are now beginning to understand infectious disease is a moving target. As the
climate shifts, any disease with an environmental stage or vector is going to be
affected," said Colwell.
--ANI
