NASA researchers are conducting Earth Science research
that may one day allow public health officials to better
track and predict the spread of West Nile Virus. NASA’s goal
is to provide people on the front lines of public health with
innovative technologies, data and a unique vantage point from
space through satellites, all tailored into useful tools and
databases for streamlining efforts to combat the disease.

NASA’s Public Health Applications Program focuses the results
of research occurring at different NASA centers. The program
is designed to eventually supply public health agencies with
access to NASA’s cutting-edge capabilities in formats they
can use to better understand how and where West Nile Virus
spreads, focus resources and stave off the disease more
efficiently.

“The goal of the program is to extend the benefits of NASA’s
investments in Earth system science, technology and data
toward public-health decision making and practice,” said
Robert Venezia, program manager at NASA Headquarters,
Washington.

West Nile Virus, first reported in the United States in 1999,
causes flu-like symptoms that may lead to fatal encephalitis
in people with compromised immune systems, like the elderly.
Though not yet proven, scientists believe the disease may be
spread across the country by infected birds traveling along
their migration routes. Mosquitoes that act as a vector carry
the virus and pass it on when feeding on hosts like birds,
livestock, other animals and people.

Based on what is known about the disease, NASA centers,
including the Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Md.,
and Ames Research Center in Moffett Field, Calif., are
researching methods to identify environmental indicators from
data acquired on NASA Earth Observing Systems, packaged in
ways that highlight factors relevant to West Nile Virus
transmission.

For example, NASA’s Healthy Planet program is researching
approaches to publicly disseminate information from NASA
Earth-observing satellites and data archives, scientific
research and communications networks.

Healthy Planet has helped Pennsylvania implement the PA West
Nile Virus Surveillance System (PAWNVSS), a state-wide
Geographic Information System (GIS) mapping program that will
verify and validate the use of NASA weather, climate and
land-use data to identify areas ripe for mosquitoes and West
Nile Virus. The database contains information about dead bird
findings, and human health reports of West Nile Virus.
Pennsylvania agencies are currently using the PAWNVSS system
to make daily decisions on the best places and times to spray
for mosquitoes.

“NASA’s help has allowed us to understand climate change and
to predict the beginning and end of the mosquito season
across Pennsylvania,” said Eric Conrad, Deputy Secretary for
Field Operation at the Pennsylvania Department of
Environmental Protection. “This information allows us to know
when to start our mosquito-surveillance season and when to
consider the season over.”

Another NASA program, called the International Research
Partnership for Infectious Diseases (INTREPID), is developing
information products and databases derived from satellite
data to show nation-wide temperatures, distributions of
vegetation, bird migration routes and areas pinpointing
reported cases. The combined data help scientists predict
disease outbreaks by showing when and where habitats are
suitable for the insects to thrive and where the disease
appears to be spreading.

NASA’s Center for Health Applications of Aerospace Related
Technologies is evaluating how NASA technologies like remote
sensing and GIS can be used to locate habitats in
California’s Sacramento valley with favorable conditions for
both birds and mosquitoes. The project specifically seeks to
track encephalitis, caused by a virus very similar to West
Nile Virus that also primarily infects birds through mosquito
vectors. These technologies may then be combined with surveys
of infected birds and bird migration paths, obtained from
radio transmitters placed on birds, to create temporal and
spatial risk maps that may help public health personnel.

These examples from the Public Health Applications Program
typify how NASA Earth Science research results are being
evaluated for future use in providing decision-support for
dealing with a broad range of diseases.

These efforts are in conjunction with federal, state and
local public health agency initiatives. NASA is planning a
joint public health and Earth Science peer review with
agencies responsible for addressing national concerns on West
Nile Virus. These agencies include the Centers for Disease
Control and Prevention, National Institutes of Health,
Environmental Protection Agency, United States Geological
Survey and state health departments.

For more information, see:
http://www.gsfc.nasa.gov/topstory/20020828phap.html