Satellite Technology Helps Predict and Prevent Pandemic Outbreaks

Fourteen satellites currently in orbit enable scientists to observe the Earth's environment to help predict infectious disease and prevent their outbreak around the world.

The use of remote sensing technology aids specialists in predicting the outbreak of some of the most common and deadly infectious diseases today such as Ebola, West Nile virus, and Rift Valley Fever. The ability of infectious diseases to thrive depends on changes in the Earth's environment such as the climate, precipitation, and vegetation of an area.

Data from the [U.S.] National Aeronautics and Space Administration's (NASA; Washington DC, USA) orbiting satellites is collected daily to monitor environmental changes. That information is then passed on to agencies such as the [U.S.] Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC; Atlanta, GA, USA) and the U.S. Department of Defense, which then use the data to predict and track disease outbreaks and assist in making public health policy decisions.

An infectious disease being especially targeted by NASA is malaria, which affects 300-500 million persons worldwide, leaving 40% of the world at risk of infection. The Malaria Modeling and Surveillance Project utilizing NASA satellite technology is currently in use by the Armed Forces Research Institute of Medical Sciences in Thailand Armed Forces Research Institute of Medical Sciences in Thailand (Bangkok, Thailand) and the U.S. Naval Medical Research Unit located (Indonesia).

"NASA satellite remote sensing technology has been an important tool in the last few years to not only provide scientists with the data needed to respond to epidemic threats quickly, but to also help predict the future of infectious diseases in areas where diseases were never a main concern,” said Mr. John Haynes, public health program manager for the NASA Earth Science Applied Sciences Program. "Changing environments due to global warming have the ability to change environmental habitats so drastically that diseases such as malaria may become common in areas that have never been previously at risk.”


Related Links:
National Aeronautics and Space Administration
Armed Forces Research Institute of Medical Sciences in Thailand
U.S. Naval Medical Research Unit