LANDSCAPE ECOLOGY AND EPIDEMIOLOGY OF VECTOR-BORNE DISEASES - TOOLS FOR SPATIAL-ANALYSIS

Geographic information systems (GIS), global positioning systems (GPS) , remote sensing, and spatial statistics are tools to analyze and inte grate the spatial component in epidemiology of vector-borne disease in to research, surveillance, and control programs based on a landscape e cology approach. Landscape ecology, which deals with the mosaic struct ure of landscapes and ecosystems, considers the spatial heterogeneity of biotic and abiotic components as the underlying mechanism which det ermines the structure of ecosystems. The methodologies of GIS, GPS, sa tellite imagery, and spatial statistics, and the landscape ecology-epi demiology approach are described, and applications of these methodolog ies to vector-borne diseases are reviewed. Collaborative studies by th e author and colleagues on malaria in Israel and tsetse flies in Kenya , and Lyme disease, LaCrosse encephalitis, and eastern equine encephal itis in the north-central United States are presented as examples for application of these tools to research and disease surveillance. Relev ance of spatial tools and landscape ecology to emerging infectious dis eases and to studies of global change effects on vector-borne diseases are discussed.