The satellite data will be updated monthly to gain more clues. Moussavou added: “In Gabon and Congo, we have observed an annual periodicity of Ebola outbreaks. This suggests particular ecological conditions characterise the reservoir host habitat.”
EO images will also be provided to the World Health Organization (WHO) Public Health Mapping Programme, for import into WHO’s HealthMapper GIS software used by public health officials in more than 70 countries.
“Ultimately our system depends on ground-gathered data, but remote sensing could be a useful addition,” said Jean-Pierre Meert of WHO. “Local maps are often 30 years out of date, so we’ve asked for high-resolution images of cities from Casablanca in Morocco to Vientiane in Laos, to help us better plan medical responses such as locating urban clinics. We also hope to keep better track of nomadic peoples, so we’re better placed to provide them with medical help.”
Combating malaria – which affects 300 million people worldwide and kills up to 1.5 million people annually – is a particular focus of several different Epidemio users. Acquiring satellite-gathered meteorological data is of great interest. High humidity and rainfall levels often presage malaria outbreaks due to increased mosquito numbers.
“Reliable continent-wide information on surface temperature is a particular boon,” said Simon Hay of the University of Oxford Zoology Department. “These temperature data would help in discriminating those rainfall events that occur in a window most favourable for the generation of malaria.”