A Web Geographic Information System to share data and explorative analysis tools: The application to West Nile disease in the Mediterranean basin

Abstract

BackgroundIn the last decades an increasing number of West Nile Disease cases was observed in equines and humans in the Mediterranean basin and surveillance systems are set up in numerous countries to manage and control the disease. The collection, storage and distribution of information on the spread of the disease becomes important for a shared intervention and control strategy. To this end, a Web Geographic Information System has been developed and disease data, climatic and environmental remote sensed data, full genome sequences of selected isolated strains are made available. This paper describes the Disease Monitoring Dashboard (DMD) web system application, the tools available for the preliminary analysis on climatic and environmental factors and the other interactive tools for epidemiological analysis.MethodsWNV occurrence data are collected from multiple official and unofficial sources. Whole genome sequences and metadata of WNV strains are retrieved from public databases or generated in the framework of the Italian surveillance activities. Climatic and environmental data are provided by NASA website. The Geographical Information System is composed by Oracle 10g Database and ESRI ArcGIS Server 10.03; the web mapping client application is developed with the ArcGIS API for Javascript and Phylocanvas library to facilitate and optimize the mash-up approach. ESRI ArcSDE 10.1 has been used to store spatial data.ResultsThe DMD application is accessible through a generic web browser at https://netmed.izs.it/networkMediterraneo/. The system collects data through on-line forms and automated procedures and visualizes data as interactive graphs, maps and tables. The spatial and temporal dynamic visualization of disease events is managed by a time slider that returns results on both map and epidemiological curve. Climatic and environmental data can be associated to cases through python procedures and downloaded as Excel files.ConclusionsThe system compiles multiple datasets through user-friendly web tools; it integrates entomological, veterinary and human surveillance, molecular information on pathogens and environmental and climatic data. The principal result of the DMD development is the transfer and dissemination of knowledge and technologies to develop strategies for integrated prevention and control measures of animal and human diseases.

A systematic review of spatial decision support systems in public health informatics supporting the identification of high risk areas for zoonotic disease outbreaks

“…While these developments show great potential for the use of bioinformatic tools and resources in public health, the public sector has yet to take full advantage of genetic data driven tools. Despite a substantial amount of literature that documents the value of understanding the genetic variability of disease [ 119 – 121 ], only three potential articles included in the screening process were inclusive of sequencing data but did not pass the inclusion criteria or quality filtering process [ 53 , 89 , 95 ]. Complications for including sequencing data for zoonotic surveillance are largely due to limited resources or laboratory capacity to rapidly sequence emerging infections [ 121 ], and a unifying framework from which to integrate the phylogenetic patterns of an infectious agent and potential hosts [ 122 ], in addition to drivers of disease.…”

Digital dashboards visualizing public health data: a systematic review

“…Data displayed on the dashboards is derived from different sources like (a) governmental institutions ( 37 ) ( n = 14), (b) health organizations like the World Health Organization and health care facilities ( 38 ) ( n = 25) (c) national or local Research Organizations like the National Center for Health Statistics ( 39 ) ( n = 6), (d) cities or communities ( 40 ) ( n = 11), (e) news and journals ( 41 ) ( n = 8), and (f) social media such as Twitter ( 42 ) ( n = 8). Also, eleven papers report that (g) the users of the dashboard can be a source of information ( 43 ).…”

“…Forty dashboards reporting incidences of health hazards or the magnitude of a crisis caused e.g., by natural disasters, use maps to visualize the spread or effected areas ( 45 ). These are often further enhanced by symbols ( 38 ) ( n = 5), icons ( 46 ) ( n = 6) or pop-ups ( 47 ) ( n = 11) that become visible when the users hover over the map.…”

To the study of environmental problems of the Mnevnikovskaya flood (Moscow) in the atlas information system using space images. Part 1

“…Атласные информационные системы понимаются как системы синтеза геоинформационных технологий, картографии и мультимедиа, связанные с конкретной территорией или темой в сочетании с повествовательной частью, где доминирующую роль играют карты [14][15][16] .…”