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The WHOCC has several ongoing projects with a wide range of GIscience techniques, geographic technologies, and output applications. Click on any of the images or links below for more details on our current research. |
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Historical records of disease outbreaks provide a fascinating series of data sets for digitizing and analyzing within the GIS environment. The LSU WHOCC has developed a complete GIS and spatial analysis of the 1878 New Orleans Yellow fever epidemic, including an online animation of the disease dispersion. |
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The LSU WHOCC is working cooperatively with PANAFTOSA, PAHO, USDA, and NOAA scientists to model geospatial and environmental relationships between FMD and South American climate. Additionally, WHOCC has developed a cartographic animation of 30 years worth of FMD surveillance data from PANAFTOSA. |
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The LSU WHOCC is working in Collaboration with the Kazakh Science Center for Quarantine and Zoonotic Diseases, the Civilian Research and Development Foundation, and several U.S. universities to develop an anthrax control program. LSU WHOCC Is facilitating GIS development, advanced spatial modeling, and GIS training for Kazakh project personnel. |
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Ongoing Research at LSU WHOCC |
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Antibiotic resistance is a growing concern in human and veterinary medicine. Several studies have shown that as antibiotic use has risen, so has the evolution of antibiotic resistance genes in bacteria. The LSU WHOCC has been working with the International Aquatic and Terrestrial Conservation Medicine and Biotelemetrics Research Lab to develop both cross-sectional and longitudinal survey methodologies to quantify ABR in wildlife populations from separate geographical locations. |
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LSU WHOCC is working with the Louisiana Office of Public Health and Family Road of Greater Baton Rouge to develop a GIS-based spatial model and interactive database for health workers to aid in the reduction of Infant Mortality Rate in the city of Baton Rouge. Infant mortality far exceeds the national average in Baton Rouge, and even exceeds that of many developing nations. This project is aimed at using GIS to target areas of high risk, areas of too little prenatal medical attention, and identify neighborhood characteristics that might predict areas of high IMR so that proper public health measures are distributed appropriately. |
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LSU WHOCC is working collaboratively with researchers from Central America and Loyola University to integrate geostatistical and GIS techniques into ongoing genetic studies of the triatomid vectors and Trypansoma cruzi, the agent of Chagas disease. Additionally, LSU WHOCC personnel have been conducting ethnographic and geospatial field studies on Chagas disease in southern Veracruz, Mexico. This research in Mexico has lead to the development of a (near) real-time, web-based GIS surveillance system that allows for real-time mapping of cases and samples as they are entered into an online database tool. |
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LSU WHOCC began collaborating with several LSU GIS labs soon after Katrina made landfall to aid in the large demand for geospatial information, maps, and GIS support. WHOCC actively worked at the Emergency Operations Center in Baton Rouge, in the field and from LSU to aid the National Red Cross, and mobilized an effort to provide GIS support to several agencies involved in animal rescue and shelter. WHOCC also provided emergency mapping support at the EOC for Hurricane Rita, re-establishing the LSU GIS desk, providing 911 mapping support for Search and Rescue teams and providing information to the Governor’s Office. Since the emergency response has shifted towards recovery, the WHOCC is now active in several research projects specific to the state’s recovery. |
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LSU WHOCC has several active research projects investigating the macro-, meso-, and micro-scale environmental parameters that promote anthrax spore survival throughout North America. These studies range from real-time wildlife telemetry studies on deer in Texas to broad-scale ecological niche modeling disease distribution nation-wide. |
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Ongoing research is focused on the application of spatio-temporal modeling techniques to understand the historical diffusion, distribution, and clustering of typhoid in Washington, DC (1880 to 1909). Techniques such as the G statistic and Geographically Weighted Regression are proving useful means of re-evaluating the original epidemiological reports and re-establishing an understanding of urban disease patterns for the time period. |
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© LSU WHOCC 2005 |