Abstract
Background: Climate and environment vary across many spatio-temporal scales, including the concept of climate change, which impact on ecosystems, vector-borne diseases and public health worldwide.Objectives: To develop a conceptual approach by mapping climatic and environmental conditions from space and studying their linkages with Rift Valley Fever (RVF) epidemics in Senegal.Design: Ponds in which mosquitoes could thrive were identified from remote sensing using high-resolution SPOT-5 satellite images. Additional data on pond dynamics and rainfall events (obtained from the Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission) were combined with hydrological in-situ data. Localisation of vulnerable hosts such as penned cattle (from QuickBird satellite) were also used.Results: Dynamic spatio-temporal distribution of Aedes vexans density (one of the main RVF vectors) is based on the total rainfall amount and ponds’ dynamics. While Zones Potentially Occupied by Mosquitoes are mapped, detailed risk areas, i.e. zones where hazards and vulnerability occur, are expressed in percentages of areas where cattle are potentially exposed to mosquitoes’ bites.Conclusions: This new conceptual approach, using precise remote-sensing techniques, simply relies upon rainfall distribution also evaluated from space. It is meant to contribute to the implementation of operational early warning systems for RVF based on both natural and anthropogenic climatic and environmental changes. In a climate change context, this approach could also be applied to other vector-borne diseases and places worldwide.
Highlights
Climate and environment vary across many spatio-temporal scales, including the concept of climate change, which impact on ecosystems, vector-borne diseases and public health worldwide
Using observations from space, we constructed the dynamic evolution of Zones Potentially Occupied by Mosquitoes (ZPOMs) [Fig. 4; see animated on-line version in [9]
Available at www.geospatialhealth.unina.it] from the distribution and development of ponds was crucial. It allowed direct identification of Rift Valley Fever (RVF) risks from discrete and ‘productive rainfall’ events such as local deep atmospheric convections and propagating squall-lines. This remote-sensing approach and the new integrated concept belongs to the so-called tele-epidemiology developed at CNES [14]
Summary
Climate and environment vary across many spatio-temporal scales, including the concept of climate change, which impact on ecosystems, vector-borne diseases and public health worldwide. Objectives: To develop a conceptual approach by mapping climatic and environmental conditions from space and studying their linkages with Rift Valley Fever (RVF) epidemics in Senegal. Design: Ponds in which mosquitoes could thrive were identified from remote sensing using high-resolution SPOT-5 satellite images. Results: Dynamic spatio-temporal distribution of Aedes vexans density (one of the main RVF vectors) is based on the total rainfall amount and ponds’ dynamics. Conclusions: This new conceptual approach, using precise remote-sensing techniques, relies upon rainfall distribution evaluated from space. In a climate change context, this approach could be applied to other vector-borne diseases and places worldwide
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