Use of GIS to find the risk area of leptospirosis, Nakornratchasrima, Thailand

Abstract

During the past decade-Leptospirosis-one of the fatal diseases, caused lost in not only the human resources but also the socio-economic of the country. To find out the tendency of the Leptospirosis outbreak and to evaluate its risk area, the Geo-informatics technology was applied. The feasibility study has been conducted under the collaboration of Geo-informatics and Space Technology Development Agency (GISTDA) and Faculty of Tropical Medicine (FTM), Mahidol University. The serologic survey was conducted by FTM during the year 2004 - 2006 on a cohort of 2,207 persons in Nakornratchasima, Thailand. The very high resolution satellite imagery, IKONOS, has been used to extract and map the existing affected area at village level. GIS and GPS technologies were utilized to evaluate related geographic parameters and define risk area of Leptospirosis outbreak. The result of potential site analysis has shown as the thematic map of Leptospirosis's risk area and the risk analysis were categorized into very high, high, moderate, slight, and low which covering 39.8, 58.2, 8.7, 5.2, and 3.1 square kilometers, respectively.