The spread of infectious diseases could soon be tracked using information collected from hundreds of miles in the sky, according to a researcher at the OU Center for Spatial Analysis.

Xiangming Xiao, professor of microbiology and associate director of the OU Center for Spatial Analysis, has been working on tracking the spread of the avian flu in Asia using remote data from satellites.

“A lot of data is required to track these diseases,” Xiao said. “Satellite images can be an important part of that data.”

Among such necessary information are ecological and seasonal factors, Xiao said. Using remote sensing, satellites can map out disease risk areas in near-real time. The domestic duck in Southeast Asia is the primary carrier of the avian flu. These ducks live in rice paddies and come into contact with migratory water birds that are secondary carriers. These birds then spread the disease along their migratory flyways.

Using remote data, satellites can monitor the intensity of rice paddy crops that could sustain a concentration of domestic ducks and wild water birds, according to research published in the Journal of Wildlife Diseases. This information is combined with the migratory patterns of the water birds to determine the locations at high risk for avian flu.

“We need to understand and have information of the rice agricultural systems, and satellites can map this data,” Xiao said.

Xiao said the satellite itself cannot predict disease outbreaks, but the data collected is an important part of the mapping process. He said climate change can affect migratory patterns of disease-carrying birds, and satellites are necessary for monitoring this information as well.

“The ultimate goal is to use the satellite data with information on the ground to develop the risk map,” he said.

Xiao said the use of satellite data to map disease is a relatively new concept that is not implemented in governments’ decision-making process for combating diseases yet. However, he said he sees a good possibility satellite data will be commonly used in the future.

“There is great potential for using satellite data for disease forecasting and mapping data.” he said. “It provides consistent information that could really help.”

While Xiao’s research is exciting for future disease prediction, he said satellite data would not be very effective for predicting swine flu outbreaks because the disease already spreads from human-to-human contact.