Remote Sensing Characterization and Prediction of Hyperendemic Foci for Lyme Disease

Project institution: Department of Epidemiology and Public Health, Yale University, New Haven, Connecticut

Principal investigator: Dr. Durland Fish¹
Co-investigators: S. Dister² and C. Torres¹

¹ Department of Epidemiology and Public Health, Yale School of Medicine
² CHAART, NASA Ames Research Center

Hypothesis: Hyperendemic foci of Lyme disease are caused by specific landscape configurations within the northeastern endemic region that can be described and predicted by remote sensing and geographic information systems technologies.

Aims:

1. Describe the landscape elements of a selected hyperendemic focus for Lyme disease using remote sensing/geographic information systems technology.

2. Test the predictive value of landscape elements characteristic of hyperendemic Lyme disease by comparing the spatial distribution of hyperendemic landscapes with that of human case reports.

3. Verify predictions by sampling hyperendemic areas to determine the presence and density of vectors.

The following paper came out of this work:

Dister, S.W., D. Fish, S. Bros, D.H. Frank, and B.L. Wood. 1997. Landscape characterization of peridomestic risk for Lyme disease using satellite imagery. Am. J. Trop. Med. Hyg. 57(6):687-692.

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