Uriel Kitron, head of the Spatial Epidemiology Lab at UIUC, will speak Oct. 28 on the topic, "Spatial Epidemiology of Infectious Diseases."

Slide set [PDF]

Abstract: The spatial distribution of infectious Disease, particularly those  transmitted by insects and the zoonoses is highly heterogeneous, in large  part because of environmental determinants of vector and reservoir host  distributions. Tools such as geographic informations systems, satellite imagery and  spatial statistics have many applications for studies of vector-borne  diseases and zoonoses. The issue of scale and spatial and temporal  resolutions is of key importance for research and control of infectious  diseases. A brief overview of spatial epidemiology and tools for spatial analysis  will be followed by examples from the Americas, including West Nile virus  in Greater Chicago, Illinois, Lyme disease in the U.S. and Chagas disease  on the village level in Argentina.

Bio: Uriel Kitron is Professor of Epidemiology and co-Director of the  Center for Zoonoses Research at the College of Veterinary Medicine. He is  also affiliated with the Program in Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, the  Department of Community Health and the Center for Wildlife Ecology in the  Illinois Natural History Survey. His research includes epidemiological  studies of West Nile virus and Lyme disease in the US, malaria and  schistosomiasis in East Africa and Chagas Disease and dengue in South America.