There have been three major influenza outbreaks in the 20th century; the worst of which
known as the Spanish Flu occurred in 1918-1919 and killed an estimated 50 million people.
There has not been a major flu outbreak in the last 36 years (1968 Hong Kong); however
during the past several years, there has been a growing risk of flu outbreak from a high
morbidity influenza strain that almost exclusively affects wild and domestic birds known as
H5N1. The H5N1 strain more commonly known as bird flu is spreading across Asia into
western Russia with an increasing number of rare human infections. Just recently, the some
health experts characterized the threat of an H5N1 global pandemic as alarming with a
potential death toll of between 5-150 million people. This article attempts to geographically
illustrate the movement of the H5N1 avian influenza virus between October 2003 and August
2005. Although thorough data sources are limited, it was possible to piece together some
regional views of the disease. It is important to note, that at the time this draft was released,
there was an upsurge in reported H5N1 poultry and human cases in Indonesia that warrant
further scrutiny.
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GIS Weekly Magazine
Susan Smith
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Look for the next issue of GIS Weekly Magazine on May 28, 2012.
Each GISWeekly Review delivers to its readers news concerning the latest developments in the GIS industry, along with a selection of other articles that we feel you might find interesting. |
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