Introduction

Investigation of diseases in wild animals presents a special

challenge to veterinary epidemiologists as the locations of
individual animals within the populations at risk are much less
predictable than is the case with domestic animals. This affects
the ability to find animals during, for example, cross-sectional
studies, and to undertake cohort studies in which the same
animal must be examined repeatedly and therefore recaptured
reliably. The presence of wild animals in space, while difficult to
predict, is dependent on environmental and geographical
factors. Both types of information represent one of the
cornerstones of geographic information systems (GIS). This is
one of the reasons why GIS technology has already become an
essential tool for wildlife management and research.
Epidemiological investigations gain strength from being able to
incorporate information about the proximity relationships
between animals at risk, and also about the context relating to
the spatial distribution of risk factors. Recognising the
importance of space and the associated challenge, ecologists
have named it The final frontier for ecological theory (18).
Geographical information systems are made up of a number of
components as shown in Figure 1, and these will be discussed
later. Although originally an independent science, the study of
GIS is now being slowly absorbed into information science (IS).
This is a sensible development, since IS is the common source
for all data. A principal function of GIS is to augment the senses
with information which is not immediately accessible from
inspecting tabular data. Over the last decade, the technology
has become easier to use, and at the same time the quantity of
Rev. sci. tech. Off. int. Epiz., 2002, 21 (1), 91-102
Geographical information systems as a tool in
epidemiological assessment and wildlife disease
management
Summary
Geographical information systems (GIS) facilitate the incorporation of spatial
relationships into epidemiological investigations of wildlife diseases. Consisting
of data input, management, analysis and presentation components, GIS act as an
integrative technology in that a range of very varied data sources can be
combined which describe different aspects of the environment of wild animals.
The analytical functionality of GIS is still evolving, and ranges from visual to
exploratory and modelling methods. Output generated by GIS in map format has
the particular advantage of allowing implicit representation of spatial
dependence relationships in an intuitive manner. The technology is becoming an
essential component of modern disease surveillance systems.
Keywords
Epidemiology Geographical information systems Spatial analysis Wildlife.
D.U. Pfeiffer
(1)
& M. Hugh-Jones
(2)
(1) Epidemiology Division, Royal Veterinary College, Hawkshead Lane, North Mymms, Hertfordshire AL9 7TA,
United Kingdom
(2) Department of Pathobiological Sciences, School of Veterinary Medicine, Louisiana State University, Baton
Rouge, Louisana 70803-8404, United States of America
OIE - 2002
available data has increased exponentially, whereas the quality
of the data has not improved at the same pace. Field verification
of the results of GIS analyses is therefore of paramount
importance. While the output is usually an image or graphic
representing the digital information, this is only to facilitate easy
and rapid understanding. For this reason, the graphics must be
honest, as graphics can aid mendacity.
Medical/veterinary geographical
information systems
Decision-making in relation to human or animal health
problems involves a triad of decision loci, as follows:
a) case finding
b) risk assessment
c) control programme delivery.
Classically, the epidemiological focus has been on
predominantly the aspatial characteristics of these loci, which
can be measured and quantified independently of space (e.g.
age, breed, sex, time). With the advent of GIS, the three loci are
now recognised to have spatially interactive characteristics. The
simplest use of GIS is data visualisation, a map, of the known
cases. This allows questions such as where are the
environments considered relevant to the disease or health risk?.
On further consideration of the cases, additional questions can
be asked, such as where are the cases that have not been
found?; where are the next cases?; where are the cases that are
not occurring or were prevented and which must be confirmed
as absent?. Denominators are built into the data, allowing rates
to be easily calculated and plotted. Case prediction, whether
positive or negative, leads towards an interactive function of
GIS. In this context, risk mapping links observed case
occurrence with risk, similarly to field laboratories whose
location can be optimised with transport theory and other
tools, but must take into account population density,
infrastructure, incidence, prevalence, equipment maintenance,
communications, and staff housing, to name but a few factors.
Control programme optimisation is encountered further into the
analyses when programme response and evaluation are
included.
Geographical information
system technology
A GIS is the result of integrating various different technologies,
data sources and interest groups for the purpose of collecting,
storing, analysing, presenting and disseminating
geographically-referenced information (i.e. spatial data). The
increasing importance of GIS is strongly correlated with the rise
of the information age, particularly the development of
powerful computing technology.
Spatial data is defined as geographical features and the
attributes of these features. The features can be points, lines or
polygons, which can be used, for example, to represent the
locations of animals, rivers or forest patches, respectively. Each
individual geographical feature can be linked to specific
attribute information. Such attributes could be, for example,
the disease status and the age of each animal, the name of the
river, or the predominant tree species in the forest patch. Each
feature will often have multiple attributes.
To manage spatial data, a GIS requires both spatial and non-
spatial database management functionality. The geographical
features are managed by the spatial data functions, which also
maintain links to the attribute data. The latter are often stored
in a standard database management system (DBMS). The
strength of this linkage varies between different GIS software
packages, but a true GIS should allow spatial querying of the
attribute database and thereby allow examination and
management of different attributes taking into account the
proximity of spatial features. This would allow, for example, the
calculation of distances between infected animals, or estimation
of the distances from diseased animals to the nearest river. Such
functionality can only be handled using geographical
co-ordinates in a standard DBMS. Fortunately, extensions to
DBMS can correctly manipulate geographic co-ordinates as well
as the intersection, clipping or union of polygons and vectors.
Data collection
Spatial feature information can be imported into a GIS using a
number of different methods. Geographical co-ordinate
information can be manually digitised, read from paper maps,
or determined directly in the field using global positioning
systems (GPS). An additional conversion step is required if
images are generated as an intermediate step, such as when
92 Rev. sci. tech. Off. int. Epiz., 21 (1)
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Input
Acquisition
Data management
Quality control
Presentation/
Communication
Visualisation
Analysis
Visualisation
Exploration
Modelling
Verification

Fig. 1
Components of geographical information systems
paper maps are scanned or landscapes are remotely sensed
using aeroplanes or satellites. However, the use of geo-
referenced information which is already available in a digital
format is often possible.
Data quality is one of the principal concerns which every GIS
user must deal with. Although this is also an issue for non-
spatial data to be analysed, GIS has the additional requirement
of spatially- and temporally-accurate recording of geographical
position. Frequently, a spatially-accurate map of the different
vegetation types in a study area may be available, but the map
is not recent enough to represent the current situation. As a
result, the GIS user will often work with a spatial dataset that is
the result of combining geo-referenced information obtained
from different sources with potentially widely varying data
quality. In addition, the resolution of the digital map must be
appropriate to the habitat of the home range, the age and
seasonal activity patterns and the disease epidemiology. For
example, the activity patterns of insectivorous bats and
woodland birds are very different even if their roosting sites are
adjoining; some trematode habitats can be measured in metres,
while others are best visualised in square kilometres.
Although population sampling of human or livestock
populations which are readily accessible is a relatively simple
statistical exercise, this is not the case for wildlife. In simple
terms, the problem is to match animal availability with age,
season, disease activity and statistical precision. For example,
hunter-gathered samples, such as foxes, are usually
heterogeneous because hunter-sampled areas are not randomly
distributed; hunters differ in enthusiasm to submit carcasses,
leading to under- and over-representation; and whole families
of foxes may be present in an area between February and June,
when they live close together (in the case of Echinococcus
multilocularis, infection can be familial and thus family
members are not independent units of any sample) (30).
Another problem with samples gathered by hunters is that
older animals are under-represented. When catching (and
releasing) wild armadillos (Dasypus novemcinctus), juveniles are
readily caught but are rarely infected with Mycobacterium
leprae. In southern Louisiana, 30% of adults can be infected,
but only until significant numbers have been caught does the
non-clustering of the infection become clear (33, 25). In
contrast, if foxes are sought during July to September when the
family groups have broken up, the E. multilocularis infections in
juveniles will have maximised, thereby aiding status
recognition and diagnosis (under endemic conditions, juveniles
are more often infected than adults). If only sporadic cases
occur, the rates for the two groups are similar.
Clearly, attempts must be made to develop a sampling scheme
which results in equal representation of all areas as far as
possible.
Data storage
Important differences exist between GIS software packages with
respect to the spatial data model used to store spatial feature
information. Spatial data are usually divided into layers
describing different types of information. For example, the
different locations in which a radio-tagged animal has been
recorded during a study would be stored as one layer, and the
vegetation types in the study area as another layer. The spatial
data represented by a particular layer can be stored using the
raster or the vector model. In the raster model, space is
represented as a regular grid in which the geographical space
covered by an individual grid cell defines a spatial feature. This
means that within a layer, each of the different locations in
which the aforementioned animal has been radio-tracked will
be represented by a rectangular grid cell, and the size of the grid
cells will therefore control the resolution and accuracy of the
spatial data layer. This layer will then have a given number of
grid cells depending on the resolution which was selected, and
each grid cell will store the frequency of the presence of the
radio-tracked animal as values between zero and the maximum
number of records within the space defined by an individual
grid cell. In contrast, the vector data model defines spatial
features, such as points, lines and polygons by a combination
of points linked by lines (arcs). In the case of a radio-tracked
animal, each location will be recorded as a point, and the layer
therefore constitutes a series of x-y co-ordinates. This means
that spatial data recorded using the vector model are inherently
more accurate compared to those recorded using the raster
model. However, the raster model has the advantage that it is
methodologically easier to store data, to represent continuous
phenomena such as rainfall and to perform spatial operations
between different data layers. The majority of GIS software
packages can now work with both data models, but the ability
to perform analytical spatial operations involving both raster
and vector layers simultaneously is limited.
Data analysis
The analysis of GIS data can be broadly categorised into
visualisation, exploration and modelling. Most GIS users will
conduct principally visual analyses. The type of map
presentation depends on the type of data available, either the
actual event locations (such as the x-y co-ordinates of the
location in which an animal was sighted), or aggregate data
(where the number of animals within an area has been
counted).
Choropleth maps utilising administrative units with artificial
boundaries are often used to present aggregate information. In
this type of map, a shade or colour is assigned to the
administrative areas, thereby visualising the value of the
variable of interest. The hatching pattern or colour is based on
a class interval or continuous scale derived from a descriptive
statistic of the aggregated data, such as the prevalence of
disease. In population surveys without geo-referencing of
individual samples, this is often the only feasible way to present
Rev. sci. tech. Off. int. Epiz., 21 (1) 93
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the spatial distribution of samples. Figures 2a and 2b describe
the spatial distribution of the prevalence of tuberculosis in wild
badgers in Great Britain, which were examined as part of
badger removal operations between 1974 and 1997. The data
is based on information recorded in the Central Veterinary
Laboratory Ecology (CVLE) Wildlife Unit Badger Database.
The two maps represent two different methods of illustrating
prevalence data. Compared to Figure 2a, Figure 2b has the
advantage of also incorporating information about the relative
magnitude of the total number of badgers examined, by scaling
the pie charts appropriately.
When inspecting choropleth maps, the following factors
should be taken into consideration:
a) the boundaries of administrative or similar constructs are
often chosen for political or other reasons irrelevant to disease
spread, although such boundaries may have a direct impact on
the reporting of disease
b) sample size is frequently ignored when spatial data are
presented. Thus, while neighbouring areas may appear to have
different prevalence levels, the confidence limits may overlap
and the differences are therefore more likely to be random
c) as a result of the above, mapping disease data in this manner
may lead to false interpretations of disease clusters or disease-
free zones (22)
d) all relationships observed between variables may only hold
in that particular aggregation of data; this is known as the
modifiable areal unit problem with specific reference to
differences between natural and artificial area constructs and
the ecological fallacy in epidemiology of applying inferences
gained at a higher level to a lower level of aggregation (13, 16).
A range of methods has been developed to deal with these
problems (6, 12, 27). These methods include Kriging, by
interpolating values between the centroids of each area (24);
pycnophylactic interpolation, by iteratively interpolating a
continuous surface from data given by irregular geographic
polygons (32); use of a moving average filter (5); statistically
controlled successive unification of neighbouring units
(STACSUNU) on the assumption that neighbouring units
whose sampling results do not justify statistical distinction are
merged; and lastly, use of a Bayesian model (20). With any of
the described methods which are based on a statistical model,
it is important to assess the residuals, and be aware of edge
effects (21).
94 Rev. sci. tech. Off. int. Epiz., 21 (1)
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County boundaries
Prevalence of tuberculosis infection
0
0-0.03
0.03-0.1
0.1-0.11
0.11-0.16
0.16-0.18
0.18-0.21
0.21-0.29
0.29-0.5
No data
County boundaries
Positive for tuberculosis
Negative for tuberculosis
Fig. 2
Prevalence of tuberculosis in wild badgers in Great Britain examined during badger removal operations over the period 1974-1997,
aggregated by county
Radii of pie charts scaled according to the size of badger population examined; note that no pie charts are presented for counties without data
a) b)
Point data may require additional manipulation to facilitate
meaningful visualisation. Figure 3a presents an example of a
simple visualisation of point data based on a longitudinal study
of bovine tuberculosis in Australian brushtail possums
(Trichosurus vulpecula) in New Zealand (26). The map shows
the capture locations of tuberculous wild possums and the
locations of all traps, draped over a 10 m contour map.
Figure 3b presents a digital terrain model of the study area with
a choropleth representing Thiessen polygons draped over it.
The Thiessen polygons are used to indicate the areas which
have been used by tuberculous possums and different colours
indicate which areas were used by possums infected with the
four different restriction endonuclease analysis (REA) types
identified in the area. Visual examination of this map suggests
that some degree of separation exists between the areas in
which the different REA types occur.
With increased sophistication of computerised technology,
three-dimensional map representations have become very easy
to produce. Introduction of visual bias is particularly easy when
creating such maps, for example through the use of vertical
exaggeration factors, or choice of specific presentation
perspective and azimuth. However, appropriate use of the third
dimension can substantially increase the visual impact during
presentation, and if combined with interactive viewing, can
become an effective tool for visual thinking as well as visual
communication. Figure 3c shows the density of traps per 40 m
2
in the study area as a third dimension which was generated
using kernel smoothing from point locations of traps (2). This
indicates that trapping intensity was heterogeneous across the
study area. In this particular study, radio transmitters were
attached to the animals to locate den sites, and Figure 3d shows
smoothed representations of the density of den sites based on
all den sites and those which were used by tuberculous
possums. The two maps suggest that the area with highest
tuberculosis density was not the same as the area with highest
den density. This also could have been demonstrated by
calculating the ratio of both maps, but this would not have
shown the actual magnitude of the numerator and
denominator values. When examining Figure 3, it is important
to keep in mind the ways in which presentation can be
manipulated to emphasise particular aspects.
Rev. sci. tech. Off. int. Epiz., 21 (1) 95
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c) Smoothed representation of trap density
d) Visual comparison of smoothed den and tuberculosis den density
Fig. 3
Different types of map representations using data from a longitudinal study of tuberculosis in a wild possum population in New Zealand
REA : restriction endonuclease analysis
Locations of tuberculosis captures
Trap locations
10 m contour lines
0 100 200 300 400 m
REA type 10
REA type 4b
REA type 4
REA type 4a
Digital terrain model
0 100 200 300 400 500 m
b) Digital terrain model with Thiessen representation of locations (traps and dens)
used by tuberculous possums with different REA types
a) Contour map with trap locations and traps
in which tuberculous possums were captured
OIE - 2002
The estimation of home ranges of wild animals represents a
usage of GIS for visual and descriptive analysis which is specific
to wildlife research. Ecological research has resulted in the
development of a large number of home range estimators, and
GIS can be used to specifically investigate the overlap between
home ranges of wild animals, which will be useful for
investigating disease spread within populations that are closely
monitored. Figure 4 presents the 95% kernel estimates of home
range from the longitudinal study of four possums which were
infected with M. bovis; this is draped over a vegetation map
generated from a classified satellite image (36). The map shows
the extent of the overlap of the home ranges, and at the same
time indicates that these possums were principally moving
around in habitat covered by manuka bush vegetation.
96 Rev. sci. tech. Off. int. Epiz., 21 (1)
Vegetation types
Unclassified
Pine
Beech
Shrubland
Podocarp
Manuka
Pasture
Manuka/gorse
Manuka/pasture
Fig. 4
Home ranges (95% kernel estimates) of four tuberculous
possums, draped over a classified vegetation map derived from
a remotely sensed satellite image
However, some caution should be exercised; the home range of
an animal is a function of age, sex, season and habitat, and in
addition, the confounding problems of hunting, contact rates,
grid sizes, numbers of telemetry fixes, times of those fixes, and
subsequent analytical methods must be considered. Different
algorithms produce different home ranges using the same data.
These various points are demonstrated in Figures 5, 6 and 7
from Staubach et al. (28). While problematic when designing a
single study, these differences are even more difficult to deal
with when comparing results of different published studies
(17).
Fig. 5
Illustration of the increase of home range size of a fox
according to age
Source: Staubach et al., 2000 (28)
Fig. 6
A comparison of different techniques for the analysis of home
range using the same data set from an adult fox over a period of
one month (n = 154)
Source: Staubach et al., 2000 (28)
S
i
z
e

o
f

h
o
m
e
r
a
n
g
e

(
k
m
2
)
0.6
0.5
0.4
0.3
0.2
0.1
20 40 60 80 100 120 140 160 180 200
Number of fixes
Fig. 7
Effect of the number of radio fixes on the estimate of the home
range size of a sub-adult fox using the minimum convex polygon
method (n = 257; number of bootstrap replications = 100)
Source: Staubach et al., 2000 (28)
A unique feature of GIS technologies is the capability to
generate new geographic data layers which are based on
overlaying different thematic layers. The layers can be linked
through Boolean logic, weighted combinations or probabilistic
relationships (3).
Exploratory analysis involves statistical examination of the data
for the presence of any patterns. Such analysis is not used to
test causal hypotheses. Depending on the type of data used,
different methods can be applied, aimed at aggregated data
(such as counts per area), or actual point locations. These
methods produce either general statistics indicating that a
spatial cluster exists within the area, or local statistics showing
the location of any clusters within the area investigated. The
Cuzick-Edwards statistic for case-control data is an example of
a global statistic (9), as is the k-function which produces a
graphical presentation of the expected density of point
locations depending on distance (1). With point data, the
a) 3 months (n = 65) b) 6 months (n = 174) c) 9 months (n = 216)
a) Minimum convex
polygon
b) Harmonic mean 95% c) Kernel density
estimator 95%
probability isopleth
spatial scan statistic (19) allows identification of the location
and the extent of spatial clusters (Figs 8a and 8b). In the
example dataset, a most likely cluster was identified in the area
covered by the traps in the northern part of the study area,
which confirms the hypothesis derived from visual inspection
of Figure 3d.
Aggregated data, such as the prevalence of infected animals per
area construct, can be examined for the presence of spatial
clustering using the Moran or Geary coefficients for spatial
auto-correlation. The spatial scan statistic can also be used to
obtain a statistic which will identify the location of likely
clusters (19).
More recently, GIS technology has been used to describe the
landscape characteristics of the habitat used by animal species.
This is a new concept in that it involves generating summary
statistics describing the habitat, particularly in terms of its
fragmentation and the mixture of vegetation types (15). The
particular relevance of this methodology comes from the
realisation that the presence of wild animal species is likely to
be influenced by environmental factors which are present
within a typical home range. Definition of the presence and
absence of any individual factor independently is not sufficient,
the spatial heterogeneity is the factor which may affect the
ability of an animal species to survive in such an area (14). This
was pointed out in the context of fox rabies by Tinline, who
suggested that the survival of rabies virus in a fox population
may require a certain mixture of forest/pasture habitats (31).
Similarly, foxes infected by E. multilocularis are more frequently
found near water, in areas of high soil humidity, and on
pastures, but under-represented in forest areas, suggesting that
dryness may limit the viability of E. multilocularis oncospheres
(29). Such information about landscape fragmentation can then
be used as an additional predictor of likely disease presence
within a regression modelling framework, but as with all other
modelled predictions, it only has value when verified by
subsequent field studies.
Spatial statistical disease modelling is aimed at investigating
hypothesised causal effects which are considered to be
associated with the occurrence of disease clusters. Such models
will become useful for the management of wild animal disease
if they have acceptable predictive accuracy. Myers et al. describe
the use of risk mapping systems to forecast disease epidemics
affecting humans (23). In the future, such systems could also be
developed to predict wildlife diseases. Regression algorithms
which are sufficiently robust to deal with the dependence
structure of spatial data have recently been developed, but are
only available when using specialised computing tools.
Bayesian random effects regression models can now be used to
spatially model the relative risk of infection, incorporating any
important covariates (20, 35).
Geographical information systems have already become an
essential tool for decision making, and the integration of multi-
criteria and multi-objective decision analysis functions provides
an additional set of tools (11). These methods allow the
generation of decision rules incorporating both qualitative and
quantitative information, and take into account the costs as well
as the benefits of these decisions. The weights of evidence
method is a quantitative approach for combining evidence in
support of a hypothesis (3). Although developed for mineral
potential mapping, this method can also be used to spatially
predict the probability of the presence of diseased animals given
a weighted combination of predictor layers. In multi-criteria
decision-making, fuzzy criteria can also be used, or criteria
uncertainty can be taken into consideration. This methodology
could be used, for example, when deciding where to place
vaccine bait in the case of wild animal vaccination campaigns.
Rev. sci. tech. Off. int. Epiz., 21 (1) 97
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a) Locations used by possums with (red) and without (yellow) tuberculosis,
draped over a digital elevation model of the study area
b) Locations of clusters identified using the spatial scan statistic (red: primary
cluster; yellow: secondary cluster; blue: secondary cluster)
Fig. 8
Spatial cluster investigation of tuberculosis in wild possums
Data presentation and dissemination
One of the particular strengths of GIS is the presentation
functionality of the technology. Maps can be generated which
are tailored to specific requirements. These maps can represent
several types of attribute information in the same map, which
can be two or three dimensional. Figure 3 shows a selection of
such presentation methods. Digital video can be produced to
illustrate the temporal dynamics of infection across a landscape.
Interactive presentations can also be generated, which can then
be made widely accessible via the Internet. However, it is
important to bear in mind that map presentation, just as any
other type of graphical representation, with the help of
inexpensive computing and ingenious techniques for image
processing, provides endless opportunities for mischief (34).
Geographical information
systems in wildlife disease
research
The majority of wildlife disease research involving the use of
GIS is associated with diseases for which wildlife represent a
reservoir of infection for domestic animals or humans, such as
bovine tuberculosis, West Nile virus and rabies. Wild badgers
and brushtail possums are considered to be reservoirs of bovine
tuberculosis in the United Kingdom and New Zealand,
respectively. Delahay et al. made extensive use of GIS and
spatial analysis to describe the spatio-temporal dynamics of
bovine tuberculosis in an intensively studied badger population
(10). The use of these methods led to the important conclusion
that infection foci remain very stable over time within specific
social groups, and spread only very slowly to neighbouring
groups.
A predictive model of 80% accuracy was developed by Boone
to determine the serological presence of Sin Nombre virus
infection in deer mice (Peromyscus maniculatus) in Walker River
Basin, Nevada and California in the United States of America
(USA) (4). The model was derived using multiple discriminant
analysis on the basis of remote sensing and GIS data.
The interaction between disease in wild and domestic animals
or humans is one of the areas where extensive use can be made
of GIS methodology and spatial analysis (7). In this context,
quantification of the potential for direct or indirect contact
between the two species is often necessary. While fairly accurate
information may be available about the spatial presence of
domestic animals, that same information will be much more
uncertain for wild animals, but GIS can provide the necessary
tools to enable such analyses.
Geographical information
systems in wildlife disease
surveillance
Animal disease surveillance is aimed at monitoring endemic,
epidemic, emerging and new diseases. A technically difficult
and costly undertaking for domestic animals, such surveillance
is an even more challenging task for wild animals. In situations
where animal species serve as reservoirs or vectors, surveillance
mechanisms have existed for a long time. For example, most
countries world-wide record the occurrence of wildlife rabies.
Usually, this is only performed at some level of spatial
aggregation, such as the district or national level. More effective
systems record the actual locations in which cases have been
reported, and thereby allow more detailed investigations with
respect to spatio-temporal dynamics.
Wildlife disease surveillance for new and emerging diseases is
always likely to receive a low priority because of the cost
implications associated with effective systems. It therefore must
be accepted that such systems may have only limited sensitivity
for detecting such diseases, at least initially. In the case of West
Nile virus, surveillance activities have the highest sensitivity for
human and domestic animal cases, but very poor sensitivity for
wild animal species such as wild birds. Similarly, areas distant
from clinics and/or laboratories infrequently or never submit
samples; this has been a problem when determining the true
status of coyote rabies in west Texas and the success of the oral
vaccination programme.
Wildlife disease surveillance data generally suffer from a lack of
denominator information. The data are also likely to be affected
by strong reporting bias, and therefore must be interpreted with
great caution. Figure 9 presents an example of this problem;
absence of reports of rabies in jackals from a particular country
does not necessarily mean absence of cases of rabies in jackals.
98 Rev. sci. tech. Off. int. Epiz., 21 (1)
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0
1-7
8-20
21-28
29-146
Cases of rabies in jackals
Fig. 9
Cases of rabies in jackals in Africa, parts of Europe and Asia, as
reported to the World Health Organization in 1994
(dotted areas did not report rabies in any animal species)
At the sub-national level, geo-referenced data on rabies
occurrence has been recorded by the Department of Livestock
Services, Harare, Zimbabwe, for over ten years. This
information has been very useful for descriptive purposes, but
particularly in the case of wildlife data, the absence of
denominator information and the unquantifiable potential for
reporting-bias result in mapped presentations of case numbers
being difficult to interpret; for an example, see Figure 10a.
Analyses can be conducted amongst diagnosed cases, as shown
in Figure 10b, as long as reporting is not affected by differential
selection bias. In this particular map, the pie charts show that
cases of rabies in jackals represented the majority of rabies
diagnoses in the north of the country, and at the same time this
is the location in which most animal rabies was reported.
The interpretation of wildlife disease surveillance can be
enhanced by investigation of spatial patterns of occurrence.
Curtis describes the use of information about the spatial
heterogeneity of laboratory submissions to identify counties
with inadequate reporting in the State of Kentucky, USA (8).
The method is based on a proximity filter which works by
comparing the actual number of submissions in an area (such
as a county area or a circle) to the distribution of cases
surrounding that area. A randomisation procedure is used to
compare the actual number of submissions against an expected
distribution. If a significantly low number is found,
investigations can be undertaken to discover the reasons for this
(e.g. unsuitable terrain, low human population, animals not
reported properly by local officers).
Conclusions
Geographical information systems are admirably suited to
wildlife studies if only because these animals are mobile. Wild
animals do not live and die within arbitrarily fixed boundaries
as do livestock and companion animals. The bounded areas of
wildlife are fungible, depending on species, age, sex and season,
as well as cover and food availability. Through the use of maps
and similar spatial visualisations, a process of visual thinking is
encouraged, which allows the human brain to rapidly absorb
and interpret information and make further connections.
However, this can also be abused through the type of
presentation chosen (colours, three-dimensional) and bias in
the calculations and choice of data. Modern computing
technology now allows GIS to work with very large,
multidimensional datasets. Thus, GIS can use analytical
methods that previously could not be imagined and can
perform these methods rapidly and repeatedly. This allows
mental/intellectual exploration of the whole ecological
situation, but especially in space and time, which are the most
important dimensions of the diseases of wildlife. Nevertheless,
a note of caution is necessary. Just as burgeoning abuse of
statistical analysis was observed when desk-top computers with
easy-to-use statistics software became available to all, so similar
misuses and inappropriate utilisations of GIS analytical
methods are currently seen. Therefore, any appraisal of a GIS
report on wildlife diseases must question whether the correct
data and analyses have been used.
Rev. sci. tech. Off. int. Epiz., 21 (1) 99
OIE - 2002
b) Proportion of cases in jackals (red) amongst all confirmed animal rabies
diagnoses (green); pie charts scaled according to total number of rabies
diagnoses
a) Laboratory-confirmed cases
0
0-5
6-13
14-36
37-82
No. of cases
Fig. 10
Spatial distribution of cases of rabies in jackals in Zimbabwe
between 1991 and 1993, aggregated by administrative unit
level 3
Data provided by Dr J. Bingham, Department of Livestock Services,
Harare, Zimbabwe I
OIE - 2002
100 Rev. sci. tech. Off. int. Epiz., 21 (1)
Les systmes dinformation gographique appliqus lvaluation
pidmiologique et la gestion des maladies de la faune sauvage
D.U. Pfeiffer & M. Hugh-Jones
Rsum
Les systmes dinformation gographique (SIG) permettent dintgrer les
analyses spatiales dans les enqutes pidmiologiques sur les maladies de la
faune sauvage. Ces systmes comprennent une srie de modules permettant la
saisie, la gestion, lanalyse et la prsentation des donnes ; les SIG sont une
technologie dintgration, cest--dire quils permettent de combiner des
informations provenant de sources extrmement varies et dcrivant diffrents
aspects de lenvironnement de la faune sauvage. La fonction analytique des SIG
est, encore aujourdhui, en constante volution, et utilise des mthodes visuelles,
exploratoires ainsi que des techniques de modlisation. Les donnes
cartographiques gnres par les SIG offrent lavantage de permettre une
reprsentation implicite, et perceptible intuitivement, des relations
dinterdpendance spatiale. La technologie devient une composante essentielle
des systmes modernes dpidmiosurveillance.
Mots-cls
Analyse spatiale pidmiologie Faune sauvage Systmes dinformation
gographique.
I
Los sistemas de informacin geogrfica como instrumento de
evaluacin epidemiolgica y gestin de las enfermedades de la
fauna salvaje
D.U. Pfeiffer & M. Hugh-Jones
Resumen
Los sistemas de informacin geogrfica (SIG) facilitan la integracin de
relaciones espaciales en la investigacin epidemiolgica sobre enfermedades de
la fauna salvaje. El SIG, constituido por una serie de mdulos de entrada, gestin,
anlisis y presentacin de los datos, es una tecnologa integradora en la medida
en que permite combinar informacin de origen muy diverso para describir
diferentes aspectos del medio en el que viven los animales salvajes. Las
prestaciones analticas de los SIG, cada vez ms perfeccionadas, abarcan desde
los mtodos visuales a los de exploracin y de elaboracin de modelos. La salida
cartogrfica que genera un SIG presenta la ventaja de poder reproducir
implcitamente, y de forma intuitiva, relaciones de dependencia espacial. La
tecnologa est en vas de convertirse en un componente bsico de los sistemas
modernos de vigilancia sanitaria.
Palabras clave
Anlisis espacial Epidemiologa Fauna salvaje Sistemas de informacin geogrfica.
I
OIE - 2002
Rev. sci. tech. Off. int. Epiz., 21 (1) 101
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