ESA News
http://www.esa.int

13 March 2006

Researchers convinced satellites are helpful in tracking epidemics

The amount of data acquired by satellites is increasing at an exponential
rate, and researchers are learning about the value of this data in
fighting epidemic outbreaks as a result of ESA's Epidemio project.

"I was negative about the role satellites could play in addressing
epidemics, but now I am positive," Penelope Vernatsou of the Swiss
Tropical Institute in Switzerland said.

The ESA-funded Epidemio project was developed in January 2004 to
illustrate the benefits of remote-sensing data for studying, monitoring
and predicting epidemic outbreaks.

By using data which focuses on a region's landscape -- rainfall,
vegetation, water bodies, elevation, dust mapping and temperature --
researchers are able to pinpoint climatic conditions which are favourable
for harbouring various epidemic hosts, indicating where people are at
greatest risk.

As the project draws to completion, epidemiologists and data users
gathered in Frascati, Italy, at the 'Earth Observation in Epidemiology
Workshop', on 8-10 March 2006, to report on how Earth observation (EO) has
benefited the field of epidemiology.

Ghislain Moussavou of the Gabon-based International Centre for Medical
Research (CIRMF) began studying Ebola haemorrhagic fever, which can cause
runaway internal and external bleeding in humans and apes, in Congo and
Gabon in the hope of spotting particular environmental characteristics
associated with infected sites.

Combining ESA Envisat satellite data, under the Epidemio project, on water
bodies, forest cover and digital elevation models (DEMs) with field
results, Moussavou and his team were able to link the epidemic with
dryness and drought.

Moussavou said determining these factors will allow officials to tell the
villagers in the area that current conditions for transmission are high,
and that they need to take extra precautions. "Because there are no
medicines to prevent or cure Ebola, predictions and prevention are
necessary."

Dry conditions are also favourable for the spread of meningitis, an
inflammation of the brain and spinal cord lining. Epidemics nearly always
start in the early part of the dry season when it is hot and dusty. For
this reason, ESA has been providing dust maps for high-risk areas to aid
in implementing early warning systems.

Christelle Barbey of Silogic, in France, is currently involved in an
Epidemio project to provide wind blown dust maps for Africa. Although her
final results are still coming in, she was able to detect 100 percent of
known dust events, using MeteoSat data, and determine that dust maps do
correspond to a user need to contribute to meningitis prevention.

The Epidemio project -- funded by the Data User Element of the ESA Earth
Observation Envelope Programme -- concludes its two-year mission in April
2006, but the groundwork it has laid will aid users in the continuance of
their research and allow new projects to be undertaken.

Giuseppe Ottavianelli and Aude de Clercq of the HISTAR Solutions in the
Netherlands are currently working on a project, backed by ESA business
incubator financing, to confirm the onset of malaria epidemics in Africa,
as predicted by remote sensing data.

They have designed a prototype of a sensor located in a box that detects
mosquitoes as they fly overhead. The data collected by the sensor is then
processed by a program inside the box, which will be placed in hut hutches
in high-risk African villages, and indicates the species and numbers of
the mosquitoes detected.

Malaria is transferred by the female mosquito of the species Anopheles, so
if the sensor detects her presence in high numbers, public officials will
be alerted so that preventive measures can be put into place.

Related news

* ESA's Epidemio and Respond assist during Angolan Marburg outbreak
http://www.esa.int/esaEO/SEM4LWY5D8E_index_0.html
* ESA aids fight against a global killer
http://www.esa.int/esaEO/SEMFJ5VZJND_index_0.html
* Solving the Ebola enigma: satellites will provide clues
http://www.esa.int/esaCP/SEMWG5VZJND_index_0.html
* Satellites will join search for source of Ebola virus
http://www.esa.int/esaCP/SEMF1MXO4HD_index_0.html

Related Missions

* MSG overview
http://www.esa.int/esaEO/SEMLFM2VQUD_index_0_m.html
* Envisat overview
http://www.esa.int/esaEO/SEMWYN2VQUD_index_0_m.html

In depth

* Data User Element
http://dup.esrin.esa.it

[NOTE: Images supporting this release are available at
http://www.esa.int/esaCP/SEM5FINVGJE_index_1.html ]