Vector-Borne Disease Surveillance with QGIS

Introduction:

ASTHO is pleased to offer this learning opportunity created by Kurt Menke, with support from CDC’s Climate and Health Program. This training was developed to address specific requests from Insular Area Health Agencies (IAHAs) to help build capacity to address the health impacts associated with climate change. The seasonality, distribution, and prevalence of vector-borne diseases (VBDS) are influenced by climate factors, primarily temperature extremes and precipitation patterns. Climate change is likely to have both short- and long-term effects on VBDS transmission and infection patterns. The goal of this online training is to provide geographic information system (GIS) tools and resources to IAHAs to assist in their surveillance of and response to vector-borne disease.  

This is a self-paced online course. It covers common vector-borne disease surveillance (VBDS) spatial analysis workflows using the free and open source GIS desktop software QGIS. The course features anonymized real-world sample data from Madera, California. The data include:

• Mosquito trap locations
• Mosquito house calls (complaints)
• Storm drain locations
• Parcels
• Mosquito virus testing

The course begins with an introduction to the QGIS interface. You will learn to add different types of data and symbolize it. The course then builds on these skills as you learn to work with the data generate statistics and to chart mosquito populations across time. You will learn to do basic spatial analysis. You will calculate important VBDS rates, such as females per trap per night and the minimum infection rate of mosquitoes. Data visualization techniques are covered including creation of heat-maps of mosquito populations and animating biting complaints through time. You will learn to analyze potential mosquito sources based on species characteristics and conduct a hypothetical outbreak response. Along the way you will learn to build a professional map with the QGIS Print Composer.

The course concludes with field data collection using smartphones and tablets. You will learn to do this with a completely free set of QGIS related apps called Mergin Maps.