ABSTRACT
Infectious diseases continue to plague populations throughout the world. This chapter highlights applications of geographic information systems to problems of infectious disease. Studies that have focused on dracunculiasis, Lyme disease, babesiosis, encephalitis, and malaria are highlighted. For each disease the text follows a sequence that includes (1) a description of the disease and its transmission chain, (2) a snapshot of the current geographic patterns and recent statistics, and (3) a review of selected research summarizing applications of geographic information systems. Note here that the reference material for items one and two are from the Internet sites of the World Health Organization, Centers for Disease Control, and the Tick Research Laboratory (see appendix for URLs). Source materials for item three are largely drawn from the Master GIS/RS Bibliographic Resource Guide (this volume).
