title: Use of Google Earth to strengthen public health capacity and facilitate management of vector-borne diseases in resource-poor environments.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Novel, inexpensive solutions are needed for improved management of vector-borne and other diseases in resource-poor environments. Emerging free software providing access to satellite imagery and simple editing tools (e.g. Google Earth) complement existing geographic information system (GIS) software and provide new opportunities for: (i) strengthening overall public health capacity through development of information for city infrastructures; and (ii) display of public health data directly on an image of the physical environment.
  
  
  METHODS
  We used freely accessible satellite imagery and a set of feature-making tools included in the software (allowing for production of polygons, lines and points) to generate information for city infrastructure and to display disease data in a dengue decision support system (DDSS) framework.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Two cities in Mexico (Chetumal and Merida) were used to demonstrate that a basic representation of city infrastructure useful as a spatial backbone in a DDSS can be rapidly developed at minimal cost. Data layers generated included labelled polygons representing city blocks, lines representing streets, and points showing the locations of schools and health clinics. City blocks were colour-coded to show presence of dengue cases. The data layers were successfully imported in a format known as shapefile into a GIS software.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The combination of Google Earth and free GIS software (e.g. HealthMapper, developed by WHO, and SIGEpi, developed by PAHO) has tremendous potential to strengthen overall public health capacity and facilitate decision support system approaches to prevention and control of vector-borne diseases in resource-poor environments.
authors.affiliation: Department of Microbiology, Immunology and Pathology, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, CO, United States of America.
authors.forename: Saul
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Lozano-Fuentes
authors.forename: Darwin
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Elizondo-Quiroga
authors.forename: Jose Arturo
authors.initials: JA
authors.lastname: Farfan-Ale
authors.forename: Maria Alba
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: Loroño-Pino
authors.forename: Julian
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Garcia-Rejon
authors.forename: Salvador
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Gomez-Carro
authors.forename: Victor
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Lira-Zumbardo
authors.forename: Rosario
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Najera-Vazquez
authors.forename: Ildefonso
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Fernandez-Salas
authors.forename: Joaquin
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Calderon-Martinez
authors.forename: Marco
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Dominguez-Galera
authors.forename: Pedro
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Mis-Avila
authors.forename: Natashia
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Morris
authors.forename: Michael
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Coleman
authors.forename: Chester G
authors.initials: CG
authors.lastname: Moore
authors.forename: Barry J
authors.initials: BJ
authors.lastname: Beaty
authors.forename: Lars
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Eisen
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001179:Arthropod Vectors; D016208:Databases, Factual; D004196:Disease Outbreaks; D019353:Endemic Diseases; D040362:Geographic Information Systems; D006801:Humans; D020407:Internet; D008800:Mexico / Q000453:epidemiology; D010272:Parasitic Diseases / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000628:therapy*; D011159:Population Surveillance / Q000379:methods; D011634:Public Health / Q000379:methods*
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